Find Your Love
by LithMuffin
Summary: This is a story about finding your love. It all started with Charlie-Vampire, getting Renee-human, pregnant. Alice and Edward find baby Bella and we see how she adapts to living with vampires. We see her grow and learn new things. OOC AU there will be light lemony drizzle, but later on in the story.
1. Prologue

**Here I am again, this time I've decided to try out a Vampire Fic. Whilst writing SFTH I realised I start slacking when it comes to writing long chapters…..soooooo this will be a drabble fic but a tad longer and aprox 1000+ words each.**

**I have written more chapters in advance and hopefully I'll be able to follow a schedule with posting this time.**

**The wolves are mean but the treaty is still intact. If you're a Jacob fan then I apologise in advance because my Bella doesn't like smelly dogs.**

**Until Bella grows up, the chapters will be in EPOV and then I'll either switch over to just BPOV or jump between them both. I'd say it is OOC because Edward isn't such a pussy in this story as Bella isn't so breakable. There will be light lemony drizzle but only in later chapters. This story came to mind as I started writing SFTH and I just have to share it with you.**

**This prologue is from Charlie's POV and it will be very short.**

**I'll see you at the bottom people.**

**Prologue **

For fuck sake! Why didn't anyone warn me there are werewolves in Forks? These fuckers have been chasing me for days now. I knew Renee, the beautiful human I fell in love with, wouldn't last much longer. That thing inside her was growing more and more every day. Who knew vampires can make humans pregnant? I sure as hell didn't.

But here I am, running for my life with this – baby- in my arms, looking for the vampires I saw in my visions. I can see the fucking future, but only the future that is linked to me and the people around me. Therefore, I am able to see this baby's future.

When she ate her way through Renee's stomach and killed her, the very first thing I wanted to do was kill it. She opened her eyes and stared at me in fascination as love was pouring out of her little body and directing it at me and the lifeless woman she laid on top of.

As I picked her up I saw a vision of the Cullens accepting her for what she is. I see them loving her like their own and I also see her falling in love. It must be the Edward boy as he is still alone. She grows into a beautiful woman looking a lot like my Renee. I know this baby will be loved.

I felt her squirming in my arms and talking in her own little language but I continued running. I ran deep inside the forest and I knew I was in the Cullen territory and the wolves can't touch us. Weird coven the Cullen's, they were more like a family.

I broke through the trees and found myself in the middle of the meadow I saw in my vision. I put her down on the soft grass and searched for some twigs to make her some sort of bed until they find her. She's half vampire so she doesn't actually feel the cold. I can't say I know much about babies having been a vampire for god knows how long. So far, she hasn't given me any hassle. She looked up at me and gave me a toothless smile, she was a few days old and already smiling at me.

Deep down in my heart, I wish I could see her grow up but I know my time is nearly up.

I managed to make her a basket out of the twigs I found in the woods. I laid her inside it gently and she carried on mumbling and clapping her little hands together, which sounded pretty loud if you must know. I took out the paper and pen I stashed in my pocket and began writing the letter that will inform the Cullen's about who she is and why she is here.

I hope they can give her the life I know I never could. Even though she killed my mate, she is still part of both me and her. I can't help but love her, she is so damn beautiful, just like her mother. I hope I'll be joining her in heaven soon. She managed to drill the stupid idea that I still have a soul into my head, I am finally beginning to believe it.

I looked down at the little princess in the basket and found her fast asleep. She looked peaceful; I wish I could sleep. I have definitely forgot what that feels like. You could say I still dream because of my visions, but the shit I see wasn't always easy to deal with.

After finishing the letter, I tucked it in beside her, turned away and ran.

I don't want those fucking dogs finding her. I know she will be safe in the Cullen grounds.

You could say I am being suicidal as I'm returning back to the wolves, but I have nothing else to live for. Renee is no longer here and I don't know how to take care of a hybrid baby. I could never give her what she needs.

Their scent nearly made me gag but I continued running towards them. I stopped and faced them. They stood tall in a semi-circle and snarled at me, it was cute if you ask me as most of them are still puppies. The alpha, Jacob Black, stood in the middle. He howled once and then charged at me.

I didn't even fight him.

I stood like the statue that I am and let him tear me apart.

I welcomed the feeling knowing that I will be with my mate once again.

I felt my soul leave my body. I looked at my mangled form one more time and then felt something tug on my hand. My floating form turned and I was greeted by the most beautiful woman in my world.

My beautiful Renee.

**I promise to post once/twice a week but I don't exactly have certain days which I'll post on. **

**I promise to include the letter either in the second chapter or third, depending if I can fit it in. I hope you like this guys. **

**Please put this story on your alerts. **


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

I'm Cullen, Edward Cullen and I'm a badass vampire who feeds on – well I feed on animal blood. I guess that didn't sound as good as it did in my head. I need to fucking stop hanging out with Emmet, he's seriously rubbing off on me.

"Edwardddd come let's go hunt. I miss you big brother." That would be Alice, my so called 'sibling'. The chick is short, freakishly strong, a fashionista and she sees the fucking future.

I read minds, she sees the future based on the decisions someone makes and her mate Jasper is an empath. Emmet, Rosalie, Carlisle and Emse aren't nearly as cool as us three. We are one big vampy family. We are not blood related but the bond this family has is fucking strong.

But, I'm the seventh wheel. Yup I'm all alone because I haven't found a mate.

Definition of Mate- you're true fucking love. You live for each other and your love is unconditional. You will never love another. You could say it's like lobsters; I have no idea if there is any truth to that but Wikipedia never lies.

You can Google it.

Alice and Jasper are mates, Rosalie and Emmet are mates and so is Esme and Carlisle. They never make me feel left out but once one couple retreats to their significant bedroom, I am the first person to leave the house.

I've seen my fair share of porn but never got down to actually having sex. I'll never forget the day all the guys turned on me and made me listen to Carlisle give me the talk.

I was turned at the age of eighteen and have been a vampire for a hundred and something years now. Of course I knew about sex but back in my day, you had to get married first.

"Edward hurry up!" I have no idea why she is blocking her thoughts from me but she keeps singing about a disco stick in Russian over and over again.

I might as well go with her, I hunted a week ago and I was definitely feeling peckish. Nothing a deer or two can't satisfy.

oo0oo

"Will you fucking stop singing that song? What are you hiding from me?" I was seriously on the verge of just leaving her and hunting by myself.

"Patients brother dearest." She stuck her tongue out at me and jumped from one boulder to the other.

Alice and I have actually got that sibling bond, not that the rest of us weren't close, but we just seem to click and understand each other better. With her psychic powers and my mind reading, we communicate quite easily.

She finally stopped singing and everything was quiet in my head. I have no idea what she's thinking but I know she has something to say because she's staring at me and her head is tilted to one side.

"Are you happy Edward?" what sort of question is that?

"What are you talking about?"

'_Just answer the question Edward!'_

"I can't complain." I finally answered her.

I have no idea where she's going with this but we are slowly moving to the path where my meadow is. She knows this place is sacred to me. So why is she taking me there?

"Do you ever wonder why you haven't found a mate yet?" we've had this conversation countless of times now, with everyone and my answer is always the same.

"I just haven't found her yet. You know this Alice, you probably know it better than anyone." Of course, there were moments where I would lock myself in my room and think about exactly that. I have no idea why I'm still alone, I don't know how much longer I'll have to wait nor do I know who the girl will be.

Girls throw themselves at me in school and everywhere we go really, but that's because it's natural for them to be drawn to us vampires. I obviously showed them no interest because I would only be wasting my time.

Plus they are all humans.

Blood that should naturally be flowing down my throat as I drain them flows through their human bodies. I never tasted human blood nor do I plan on doing so. Carlisle has worked really hard to guide me through this life, I'm not about to go and ruin all of that.

I was so lost in my own thoughts that I didn't even realise we were standing on the edge of the meadow.

I took in a deep breath, intending to just let it out slowly but I stopped breathing all together.

There, in the middle of my meadow lay a makeshift basket. But that wasn't the reason why I stopped breathing.

I stopped breathing because I could smell faint human blood. I also heard a heartbeat that beat too fast for a human.

I turned to Alice and she was just smiling at the basket and then stepped forward, making her way to it.

"What are you doing?" I hissed at her and I heard the heart beat increase even more and a small gasp.

What the hell is this baby doing out here?

'_Trust me, come with me Edward' _

I had perfect control over my bloodlust so I just shook my head and started breathing properly again.

I felt my body move even though I didn't ask it to. I was now looking down at what you would call a really beautiful baby.

She was covered up in a white blanket but her little arms flapped around like a little bird. She was smiling up at us and then mumbled something. I never knew babies could do this so early on, she only looked a few days old.

"Hey there beautiful" Alice crooned as she bent down to pick the baby up. The whole time the beautiful little girl didn't take her eyes off me.

For some weird reason, I wanted to protect her from Alice.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Giver her to me Alice!" I was too close to snarling at her but I stopped myself because I didn't wasn't to scare the baby.

"Edward?" confusion crossed Alice's face and then she slowly stretched her arms out, giving her to me.

I don't know what came over me but as soon as she was in my arms, I felt relaxed instantly. My unnecessary breathing calmed too. As I pressed her to my stone cold body, I was surprised to see that she didn't flinch from the cold.

_What are you beautiful?_

The smell of blood was still faint on her, maybe because her baby smell was overpowering it all. She smelled of wild flowers and strawberries.

A new sort of panic took over me as I held her closer, tighter. _Fuck what if I hold her too tight and kill her?_

"You won't kill her Edward. We need to bring her home and feed her. Here, read this." She handed me the letter that was tucked in beside the baby in the basket. I was surprised to see our name on it; well it said _Cullen_ in a script that would match Carlisle's.

Alice looked at me like she expected me to give her the baby. I felt my growl rumble in my chest and for the first time, Alice flinched away from me.

Her eyes suddenly glazed over as a vision came to her. A beautiful girl, well she looked my human age, stood at the top of our stairs in a blue sundress and I was waiting for her at the bottom. The vision then changed into us standing in this very meadow, she was in my arms and I was leaning down to kiss her.

"Who is that?" who could that possibly be? Will I no longer be alone?

'_I'm not sure.'_ She didn't look at me as she answered. Alice's mind went completely blank after that and she began pacing in front of as. The baby in my arms was fascinated with my face and carried on mumbling something to no one in particular.

I let out a long breath and opened the letter.

_Dear Cullen's,_

_My name is Charlie Swan and the baby in your arms is my daughter. I found a mate in a human and believe it or not, we created this little beauty. She's a hybrid, half human half vampire. Please believe me when I tell you that she can't cause any harm to our world, but if the Volturi find out about her, they will turn her into a circus freak! I know this because I can see the future, just like you Alice but I only see the future that involves me and the people around me, including my baby. _

_If you are in fact reading this, then I am already dead. You see, the werewolves have been chasing me and my mate for days because they believed I endangered her life. I did in fact endanger her life by getting her pregnant. This baby in your arms ate her way through my mate's stomach as there was no other way for us to deliver her. My mate made the sacrifice and made me promise to take care of her. I can't keep her promise because I wouldn't be able to keep her safe. I turned myself in and the wolves have finished me off. I let Jacob Black tear me apart and I am now with my mate. _

_The future looks bright for our baby girl because of you Cullens. Please, I beg you to take care of her. I have not given her a name yet, I'm sure that whatever you decide will be perfect because I can't quite see what that will be. When she is older, will you please tell her about us, tell her that her mother loved her with all her heart, if she were able to, she would have ripped my balls off if I wouldn't have let her keep the baby. Please cut that part out or at least edit it, but tell her that she looks just as beautiful as her mother. Tell her I love her and that we are both looking down on her, keeping her safe._

_There are Amazon people who know of these hybrid legends, if you wish to know more, Alice will know where to look. Please look after my beauty._

_Charlie Swan._

_P.S. Edward, if you hurt her, I will fucking haunt you for the rest of your life. That's a very long life son. Keep that in mind._

I looked up from the letter to find the baby in my arms smiling at me. I smiled back at her because she just had this sort of effect on me.

"We need to go back. We need a family meeting." She didn't let me answer before she took her phone out and dialled Carlisle.

"Alice?"

"We need a family meeting. We will be back soon. Make sure everyone is there please dad." She hung up and stared at me.

"Will they accept her? Alice we can't give her away, you read what Charlie said, the Volturi will turn her into some freak!" I was once again panicking about her safety.

"No one is going to touch her Edward, I promise you." She looked at the little girl in my arms who was currently squirming trying to turn around to see Alice.

I turned her around in my arms and she beamed at Alice and the most adorable giggle escaped her as Alice crossed her eyes at her.

As we started moving I heard the same intake of breath from the baby, this time it was in wonder and I wondered whether she can see as well as we do?

The letter ran through my mind as we ran back home. She is so unique.

I wouldn't dream of hurting her.

**Next up, the Cullens meet baby Bella. Let's see their reactions. **

**Also I have decided to post TWO chapters ONCE a week but I don't have a specific day. Some of you wish these were longer chapters, I did point out that this is a drabble fic and most drabble fics I've read hardly reach 1000 words. I know it's sometimes frustrating but I find it easier to write shorter chapters :D I hope you like this so far.**

**There will be some time skipping ahead just so I could reach Bella's full age soon.**

**For most writers the reviews mean most, to me it's all you lovely people putting the story and m****e on your alerts and the story on favou****rites :D so thank you thank you thank you xxx **


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 **

She was full on laughing as we reached the house. The sparkle in her eyes is really bright as she's exploring her surroundings.

Only now did I notice that I can't read her mind. It's absolutely quiet, not a peep not even visions of colours or anything.

Pure silence.

"Alice I can't hear her."

"What are you talking about? You were just laughing along with her." She looked at me like I was crazy.

"No I mean I can't read her mind, and I know for sure it can't be blank. Do you think it's because she's a baby?"

'_A baby?'_

'_What the hell is going on?'_

'_Will you please come inside now.'_

The minds of our family bombarded me as soon as we were in earshot. I flinched and once again brought her closer to my body.

"Edward they will love her. I promise you, please don't start doubting me now brother." She ran up the front steps to the house and walked inside. I heard her greet everyone and tell them we had something important to talk about. She asked them to keep an open mind and then called us to walk in.

I attentively walked up the steps and walked through the door and into the living room.

Silence, that was what we were greeted with.

"Alice, Edward, explain this, now!" never have I ever heard Carlisle sound so panicked.

"Edward please, can I hold her?" Rosalie was by my side in an instant when the baby finally lifted her head up from my shoulder at the sound of her voice. She even leaned forward towards Rosalie and I strangely felt a pang of jealousy.

'_Jealousy?' _

I turned my attention to Jasper at the sound of his thoughts and shrugged whilst giving Rosalie the baby.

Rosalie walked back and sat down on the sofa with her, next to Esme, I wanted to follow her like a little puppy. I felt weird not having her in my arms. I glanced at everyone around me as they watched me watch her. Most of them were still confused about what was going on and Jasper had his head cocked to the side, watching me intently.

Alice walked over to Carlisle and handed him the letter, he read it out load so everyone could hear it.

Everyone gasped at the right moments as they listened to what Charlie had written. The baby looked shy as everyone would turn to look at her and then back at Carlisle, it was like she understood what was going on.

I was itching to hold her again.

"Well first of all, we need to name her." Carlisle walked over and knelt in front of Rosalie and let the baby wrap her tiny hand around his index finger. From his mind I could tell she squeezed hard enough that he could feel it. It even looked like she put a lot of effort towards it as her angelic face scrunched up in concentration.

Everyone laughed and she went shy again, sitting back against Rosalie.

"Elizabeth?"

"Molly?"

"Vanessa?"

"Lucy?"

"Emma?"

"Isabella? We could call her Bella for short and it means beautiful, right Edward?" Rosalie looked at me as did everyone else. The only thing I could do was nod; the name Bella is perfect for her.

"What do you think about that Isabella?" I asked her and she gave me her gummy grin and started clapping. We all stared at her in astonishment.

"Do you think she understands what's going on?" Emmet whispered. Emmet never whispers, hell it's difficult for him to have an indoor voice let alone whisper. Isabella looked at him and mumbled something. Everyone laughed again, at Emmet's shocked face and at her response. Isabella looked confused; she huffed and turned to Rosalie again.

"We need to feed her. Will she eat human food or drink blood?" we all turned to Alice as Esme asked the question.

"We should try both" she answered.

My eyes were fixated on Isabella, she watched everyone with so much attention. She would smile as her eyes landed on Emmet and Rosalie, as well as Esme. She would scrunch her face up at Carlisle and Alice. She would bashfully look at Jasper, as if she was scared he would catch her gaze, he would laugh every time she did, knowing what she was feeling. When she looks at me, she looks at me in wonder and then gives me the biggest smile her little face can master. My dead heart warms up a little every time she looks at me.

It was so weird to see a few days old baby, hold her own head up, be able to sit up with support and respond to things happening around her.

Her body was warmer than ours and she had a heartbeat, but the vampire side of her was evident too. Her development for one, the hardness of her skin and her eye colour; it already matched ours so Charlie must have fed on animals too.

His letter was still on everyone's mind, Jasper felt cautious about it all yet he was glad to see that the faint smell of blood didn't affect him. Emmet was scared shitless that she had some sort of magical power yet he was falling in love with her because she made his Rosie happy. Alice and Carlisle were both hungry for information and want to contact the Amazon people yet they still feel drawn to her and are willing to fulfil her every need, Alice is already eager to go shopping for her. Esme absolutely adores her, I've noticed that when she held her, she too brought her closer and inhaled her baby scent. She felt saddened as thoughts of the baby she lost before she was turned crossed her mind. She was excited to be the mother figure for someone who actually needed looking after.

Rosalie is a completely different story. She wants everything for her, she wishes she could tell what Isabella needed, whether she loved Rosalie, if she will grow up to be a beautiful woman. She worried that once she grew up she would want to live her own life. She wanted Isabella to see her as a mother figure as well as a sister and a best friend. She longed for a baby when she was still human; she sees this as her second chance. Rosalie no longer hates what she is.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

It's 3.45am and Bella is still crying.

After realising that we didn't have anything to accommodate a baby, the women went into a frenzy trying to get everything sorted for Bella to be comfortable here. Alice started baby shopping online and made sure the deliveries will arrive tomorrow, she is still shopping as Rosalie is trying to make sure Bella sleeps. Esme made mashie food for her, mixing vegetables together that we kept as a façade. Rosalie tried to help both Alice and Esme, trying to do everything at once.

We men were left to watch. I even begged Rosalie to let me hold her, she growled at me and Bella started crying louder. When Rosalie passed her over to me, she stopped. I was so tempted to just stick my tongue out at her. _Yeah, very grown up Edward. _

Carlisle studied the letter and Jasper stayed with me as well as Emmet and looked after Bella whilst her food was being prepared.

We found out that she found Emmet hilarious, she continued watching Jasper in fascination. She was sat on my lap and as she watched him, she would lean closer and closer and then sit back when he would turn to her. It made all of us laugh at her fascination. She could most likely see his battle scars.

Once Bella was fed, Esme put her down to nap up in my room. I wanted to rub it into Rosalie's face, it looked like we were going to fight over her. The nap didn't last long and once she woke up, she was as active as ever and more at ease with everyone. It also looked like her hair had grown over that short period of time that she slept. When she woke up we gave her a sippy cup of blood, just so we could be clear about what her preferences were.

She hates human blood but was close to having seconds with animal blood. Emmet was like a proud big brother when she let out a burp after her drink and she even let out a shy giggle as he cheered her on. She was already turning into a little madam.

We groaned as she let out another cry, it was close to becoming hysterical. Rosalie insisted on being the one to calm her down but nothing worked.

I sat down at my piano and began playing a melody that was beginning to grow in my head. As I was midway through, it began to sound like a lullaby. I quickly scribbled down the notes on my music sheet and as I paused to write them down I noticed the crying had stopped. The house was completely silent, everyone sighing in their minds at the silence. I began playing the lullaby again and the silence from Bella continued. Rosalie walked over to me with a sleeping Bella in her arms. It looked like she wanted to hug me and scoff at me at the same time.

'_It looks like you already have an effect on her.' _I smiled at Rosalie's thoughts and once again my mind drifted to the girl at the top of our stairs in Alice's vision.

_Was that Bella?_

I shook my head at the thought as she stirred in Rose's arms and was about to start playing again but Rose passed her over to me.

"Even though I don't want to admit this, I know for a fact she will sleep better in your arms." She moved a strand of Bella's hair away from her sleeping face and then leaned down to kiss her forehead before retreating upstairs.

I sat on my piano bench watching her sleep in my arms. I envied her, I would love to sleep, get away from everything even if it's only for a few hours.

I stood cautiously and walked up to my room. Everyone bided her goodnight as we climbed the stairs.

When we were in my room, I lied down on the unnecessary bed which all of a sudden felt like the best thing in here, and laid Bella beside me. I covered her in the blanket Charlie left with her. When she grows up, I have a feeling she will love this thing. I know I would, yeah I have objects left behind from my human life but I don't think they would ever mean as much to me as this blanket will to Bella.

I laid there watching her as she slept, wondering what type of woman she will grow up to be, when will she stop aging, will she find love, will she love this family as much as it loves her, what will be her hobbies? All these questions are yet left unanswered.

Bella is on everyone's minds right now. Some of their questions match my own and they can't wait to watch her grow up.

Emmet has taken out his Monsters Ink DVD and is now wondering whether she is old enough to watch it yet.

"Not yet Emmet." I said quietly and he groaned in response.

Rosalie has re-joined Alice with baby shopping, buying clothes for kids a few years older too, depending just how fast Bella will grow.

Esme and Carlisle have retreated to their room and are talking about Bella and I. Esme is wondering whether Bella will fall in love with me once she has grown up to her full age. Carlisle wants to home school her until she has reached her full age and understand how important it is to keep our secret. He too is wondering whether Bella has come into our lives to be my mate.

The idea right now sounds ridiculous but I can't help but wonder if it might be true.

Jasper wishes he could spend more time with her, he keeps going through all the emotions she went through today and he can't help but laugh at her emotions towards him. He too is intrigued by her and can't wait to teach her everything he knows about history and pull pranks on Emmet together.

She slowly turned on her stomach and stretched her tiny leg out. Her little toe twitched and then she stilled again and continued sleeping. I felt like I could watch her sleep all day. With Bella being half vampire, we were able to figure out that she wouldn't sleep as long as a human baby would.

I was eager to see just how much she would change over night.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

The house was quiet, my eyes were closed but I felt the sun shining through the window, a rarity for Forks.

I felt relaxed, rested as if I slept at night. I know it's impossible because I was aware of every breath Bella took and every little twitch she made as she slept. So no, I know I didn't actually sleep but it felt like I did.

I opened my eyes and nearly jumped out of bed as I found Bella sitting up and staring at me.

She is growing too fast.

As I looked into her golden eyes, I saw a reflection of myself with the sun's rays dancing on my body. She watched me on in fascination and then her tummy rumbled. I laughed and scooped her up in my arms and began walking downstairs, bouncing her with every step just to hear her giggle.

It was odd that no one is at home, I didn't hear anyone leave and once again I began questioning whether I actually slept.

When we walked through to the kitchen I found an actual note on the counter.

**We've gone out to hunt, we called your name out a dozen times but you never answered. Make sure Isabella is fed and bathed. We won't be long.**

**Give her a kiss from all of us.**

**Carlisle **

I sat her on top of the counter and gave her seven kisses all over. She squirmed and giggled the whole time and her tummy kept rumbling which reminded why we were down here in the first place.

Also, the good thing about her vampire side was that she didn't need to wear nappies. Like us, she didn't need to use the bathroom.

I'm no chef so I poured the stored animal blood into her sippy cup and brought it over to her. She was flapping the note around in her hand and then beamed at me as I brought the cup closer to her mouth.

Bella inhaled deeply and then stretched her hands out to hold it. I knew she was growing up quickly but I'd much rather feed her myself. She tried pushing my hands away as she drank and her face would scrunch up when I wouldn't let go. I laughed at her and she gave up trying and continued drinking her breakfast.

oo0oo

"Rose don't you think she would feel weird when she grows up knowing that Edward bathed her even if she was a baby? Stop being a bitch about it and cheer up because you're making Bella grumpy." Alice hissed at Rosalie as they were in Rose's en suite.

I would have had no problem bathing her, but they returned home as soon as she finished her breakfast. Rose threw a fit when she found out I haven't bathed her and it took Esme to calm her down and let me get a word in.

We all listened to the splashing and tried to act human whilst the delivery men kept walking in and out of the house, bringing in all the baby stuff Alice and Rosalie bought last night.

Jasper and Emmet were eyeing up the goods to see what they will have to set up, they were already putting on wagers about who could set what up the fastest.

My focus was on Alice's thoughts. She showed me flashes of Bella at different ages.

I saw her reading with Jasper.

I saw Emmet giving her piggy back rides.

I saw her curling up on Rosalie's lap and it looked like she was crying.

I saw her paint with Alice.

I saw her working in the garden with Esme.

I saw her greeting Carlisle with open arms every time he came back from the hospital.

I saw her sit at the piano next to me, her fingers on the ivory keys playing a melody, her eyes were closed and it looked like she was about to sing but then it all went blank.

Alice blocked her mind from me and I was dying to see more.

oo0oo

We were all in the living room, doing nothing in particular but we were all together. Bella was seated on the floor playing with her new toys; she is particularly fond of the noisy ones and would throw them at Emmet just to watch in fascination as he caught them. She would clap every time he did.

She watched Esme glide around the room, rearranging flowers and putting things away into their right places. A determined look crossed Bella's face and she began rocking her body and got on all fours. She moved quickly from one end of the room to the other. Everyone stared at her and then we all cheered her on. She sat back on her bottom and gave us her gummy grin.

Jasper went over and scooped her off the floor and hugged her tight. She froze for a second and then wrapped her little arms around his neck and laughed. I sensed Jasper relax too and I felt happy for him. He was the only one who thought she wouldn't like him even though Alice promised him that Bella will adore him.

They looked at each other and the next thing we heard was

"Jassss" Bella prolonged the s as she said his name. We couldn't believe she just said her first coherent word that we could understand.

I felt a slight pang of jealousy that her first word was Jasper's name, Rosalie felt the same but was currently hiding it really well as she beamed at Bella.

Since I've known Jasper, I've never seen him this happy as he is right now.

"Jassss" she kept saying it over and over again and would clap too as he laughed.

Everyone was determined to make her say their names too, I was actually just happy to see her happy.

She began rubbing her eyes and then laid her head on his shoulders and began closing her eyes.

She has had one busy day.

It is beginning to look like it will be very easy to carry out Charlie's wishes.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

_**7**__** Months Later**_

"Bella you know I will find youuuu!" Emmet and Bella have been playing hide and seek for only five minutes but Emmet was loving every second of it. His main goal was to get her to sit down and watch Monsters Inc with him.

She has grown up way too fast; she looked like a two year old and concurred walking after a month since living with us. Her vampire side was helping her development quicker than we thought. Rosalie is going to turn grey soon, it was scaring her how fast Bella was growing.

Hide and seek has become Bella's favourite game since she began mastering the arts of it. We always found her because she couldn't help but giggle every time someone would look in the wrong place even though we all knew she was behind the curtain.

She was always behind the curtain.

"Where's Bella Boo?" oh yeah, the other reason Emmet was dying to show her Monsters Inc was because he thinks she looks like the Boo characters. To my surprise, the similarities are uncanny. She loves having her hair in pigtails and Alice insisted on cutting her a fringe. I thought Rosalie was going to rip Alice's arms off but as soon as she saw Bella's hair, she fell in love with it.

Bella giggled and the curtain shifted and she gasped and then stilled again.

The only thing that was developing slowly with her was her speech. She says a few words but mostly stays quiet. She has yet to master all of our names. I was bummed at the fact that she hasn't said my name yet. It's really cute the way she can't pronounce Carlisle's name. She either calls like Carl or Pops which is her most favourite. I think Jasper taught her that one. She still refers to Jasper as Jasss, prolonging the s all the time. She calls Rosalie Rosa and Esme mama. Of course, Rosalie was pissed at the fact the Bella sees Esme as the mother figure but Emmet managed to calm her down and Esme makes sure she includes Rosalie when Esme is with Bella.

Alice, Emmet and I feel left out that she hasn't learned our names yet but we just love it when she starts screaming for everyone and then laughs when everyone comes rushing to her.

Emmet now stood beside the curtain where Bella was hiding.

"Hmmmm is Bella Boo behind this curtain?" he quickly opened it and she screamed and then ran through his legs clutching her blanky like her life depended on it. She was fast on her feet, but not fast enough for Emmet. He grabbed her and then lifted her up by her feet and let her dangle upside down. She didn't know what to do, should she scream or laugh. She obviously did both and it made everyone rush to her aid and save her from Emmet.

He clutched her in his arms as everyone gathered around them and she buried herself with her blanky and rested her head on his shoulder.

"My Bella Boo!" he growled and she giggled under the blanket.

The family went back to doing whatever they were doing and Emmet carried Bella to the sofa and sat her beside him.

"Now little one, this is very important. After watching this, you will realise that Boo is your twin and that there are no monsters under your bed." She watched him, concentrating really hard on every word he was saying and clutching her blanky in her hand.

"Yeahhhh" she dragged out the word, the way Emmet taught her and then they high fived. She was already spending way too much time with him.

He pressed play on the home cinema and her eyes bugged out as the movie started.

I was currently dealing with opening her bank account. She has moved into a wealthy family, therefore she should have as much money as the rest of us. They have already started talking about her going to school. When she was sleeping, everyone had a huge dispute about whether she should be home schooled at first. Of course Rosalie thought Bella wouldn't get much of a life if she was home schooled, nor would she gain any friends or fall in love. Everyone growled at her because of her last statement, including me. Even though I believed she isn't destined for me, I still felt uneasy thinking about her falling in love with someone else.

It took a while for everyone to agree on her being home schooled at first, once she is familiar with what we are and how important it is for her to keep it a secret, she can make the decision if she wants to attend school. Bella is the only reason everyone else agreed to start school too. I was going to attend with her regardless.

Alice carried on doing Bella's clothes shopping whilst Esme and Carlisle were off hunting for themselves and Bella. They took their parenting role very seriously. Jasper was currently looking into Bella's family tree. He couldn't wait to show it to her once she understood it. Rosalie was walking around the house, picking up Bella's toys, from everyone's rooms.

Bella now has her own room. She sleeps in it whenever she is really tired but always ends up crawling back into my bed during the middle of the night.

Rosalie once again wasn't too pleased about that but Emmet was. Bella has become a bit of a cockblock for Emmet. She has perfect timing too. Just the other day, Emmet wanted to have some alone time with Rosalie because their anniversary since she saved him is coming up, they usually spend the time away from the family but because of Bella, Rosalie wants to stay at home. So Emmet was about to get lucky and then Bella ran into their room laughed and ran back out, leaving the door open for everyone to see him dressed as a fire fighter.

He obviously couldn't stay mad at her for too long but everyone was still teasing him about it and he is still begging Rosalie to get away for just two days.

"Boo!" Bella shouted and everyone stopped what they were doing.

"Boo! Boo! Boo!" she shouted and then laughed along with Emmet.

She then studied Emmet for a few minutes and then very quietly said

"Sully." Whilst pointing at him. He looked at her like she just took down a bear. There was so much love coming from Emmet that even poor Jasper couldn't handle.

"Suck it up you giant teddy bear!" he shouted from his office, still sounding a bit smug at the fact that she said his name first.

Now it's just Alice and I.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Bella climbed off the sofa whilst mumbling the name Sully all the way to the kitchen. She pulled out the stool from the breakfast bar and dragged it over to the worktop.

We had gathered in the kitchen to witness it all because we couldn't help but love watching her become that little bit more independent.

She made sure the stool didn't wobble and Rosalie was about to go over to her and help but Alice stopped her, shaking her head she quietly told us to just watch.

Bella moved the stool until it suited her and then looked up at the worktop and back down at her tiny feet. She took a deep breath and it was comical the way her little shoulders squared into concentration.

She slowly climbed on the stool, wiggling a bit to see if it was still stable, she then braced her hands on top of the work surface and sat up on her knees on the stool. Bella stayed still for a bit, probably assessing what should be her next step. At this moment, I would do anything to see how her mind was working.

Her little heartbeat sped up even more as she lifted her little leg and placed it on top of the counter and then did the same with her other leg.

Once she realised that her whole body was on top of the work surface, she stood up and opened the cupboard above her and reached out for the sippy cup that was kept in there.

Esme stocked that cupboard up with about twenty sippy cups so we could easily grab one when it was time for her to eat. She turned it around in her hands and assessed it. She then shook the cup and realised it was empty. A tiny crease formed between her eyebrows and then she huffed and threw the sippy cup on the floor.

She climbed off the counter and onto the stool with complete easy and then manoeuvred herself down to the floor, this time with her little shoulders slumped with disappointment.

Bella walked over to her cup and couldn't decide whether she wanted to kick it or pick it up. Emmet could no longer contain himself and he began laughing, once she realised we were all there she gave us a cheesy smile and then picked up the cup and walked over to me.

I knelt in front of her and took the cup. She gave me a shy smile and ran over to the fridge. Bella turned to look at me and said "Yumyum" whilst pointing to the fridge. That was her way of saying she was hungry. She knew the correct term but didn't always fancy saying it.

She followed my every move and watched me as I poured the blood into her sippy cup. She would always get it already full so I guess that's why she was so confused when she shook it and it was empty.

"Emmet how could you forget to give her something whilst watching that stupid film?" Rosalie chided him as she watched Bella watch me.

"Sorry baby I was just too excited to show it to her. You saw what happened, she's already growing up and is beginning to go get it herself. You can't baby her forever Rose." He kissed the top of Rosalie's head and retreated back into the living room.

"Yo Jazz, I still need to beat your ass at Call of Duty!" Bella laughed at Emmet and then took the sippy cup and I sat her on top of the counter so she could drink. She watched everyone move around and listened for things she couldn't see. Curiosity was written all over her face and then she looked up at me and smiled batting her long lashes at me and then laughed with me as I laughed at her.

She was so easy to please, she's always happy too which makes shit a hell of a lot easier for us.

"What do you say we go out for a bit, leave these idiots for a few hours?" I asked her and she nodded at me and handed me the now empty sippy cup.

After putting it in the dishwasher, I was about to help her get down but as I was about to, she gracefully jumped off and landed on her little feet. Looked back at me, smirked and then ran off calling Rose.

"Please tell me someone fucking saw that!"

"Language Edward, you know she can hear you! And see what?" I didn't even realise Esme and Carlisle were back.

"Sorry mom, but Bella, she just jumped off the countertop and landed perfectly on her little feet!" I didn't even know she could do that!

"I saw it!" of course Alice saw it.

"Do you think she would want to be a dancer?" she then asked as she walked into the kitchen with Bella walking beside her. She ran to Esme and Carlisle and they scooped her up and gave her some love before putting her back down.

She wore jeans, a hoody with Snoopy on it and green Chucks to match the colour of the hoody. She walked over to me, grabbed my hand and then pulled me towards the door.

"I'm taking her to the meadow, we won't be gone for long." I called out as everyone gave us questioning looks.

"Lets go!" she shouted as she walked me over to my car and then placed her hands on her hips because I took my time.

I could hear everyone laughing at us, or me, but I really didn't care. Her personality was quickly coming through, it was either that or she was spending way too much time with Rosalie and Alice.

"No Edward, that's all her." Alice called out as I strapped her in and shut the door. I shook my head and climbed into the driver's seat and started my Volvo.

I looked back at Bella through the rear-view mirror and found her already staring out through the window as she watched the scenes pass her by.

I put the radio on and she began humming the song. We found out Bella loves music and we found ourselves playing it around the house more too. I could tell for a fact it won't be long before she starts singing.


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

I parked the car and climbed out to get Bella. She was still humming the last song she heard as she climbed out of the car. She looked up at me, beaming from ear to ear and reaching for my hand.

"Ready to go?" I asked her and she nodded. We walked over to the path leading into the meadow.

"Do you want me to carry you?" she was perfectly capable of walking all the way herself but she did use us carrying her to her advantage.

"No thank you." She told me and began skipping ahead of me.

This girl loves skipping, she even made Emmet skip with her once. I made sure to record it and its now on my computer. I will show it to her once she's older just so she could tease him about it.

I was so tempted to just pick her up and run at full speed so I could hear her tinkling laughter, I also wanted to get to the meadow faster.

Bella carried on holding my hand as we made our way to the meadow, I have only taken her there twice before since Alice and I found her there. She spent her time running around in circles and picking up wild flowers for the girls back home.

She would also scream every time she sees a bug and would run behind whoever is closest to her when she's outside. We have told her repeatedly that they can't bite her, she roars at us and shows us her teeth and makes claws with her hands to show how tough she is, yet she continues to scream every time she sees a bug. I guess this made her such a girl, yet we loved it.

Emmet doesn't stop teasing her about it which leads to her huffing at him, stomping off into the house, banging the doors as she goes, and storms off to her room. One of us always goes after her to make sure she's ok whilst someone else smacks Emmet on the back of the head.

It doesn't take long for Bella to get back to her usual happy self.

As we break through into the meadow, Bella stops on the edge of it, tilts her head up, closes her eyes and inhales deeply. It's such a grownup thing to do that it worries me a little. To an outsider it would look like she carried the world on her little shoulders and that at this place she can be free and let go of her worries. What could a seven month old worry about?

She let go of my hand and walked through the wild flowers to a space where only grass grew. She stomped around for a bit and then plopped down on the grass and began picking some of the flowers around her.

I shook my head and walked over to where she was and sat down beside her. She began humming the lullaby I wrote for her as she picked the flowers. I couldn't help but think about whether she will have a beautiful singing voice once she grew up.

Yeah we vampires are talented at almost everything but not all of us can sing. Bella is a hybrid, we can't possibly know what she will be good at. We know she's not stupid and especially with the knowledge our family has, she will grow up to be a bright little lady. I hope she doesn't get bored once we start school.

"What are you thinking about little one?" she had stopped humming and began looking out into the distance.

Bella turned to look at me and then climbed and straddled my lap and rested her head on my chest. She took in a huge breath and I knew this would be something serious.

"I'm different." I froze for a second. I really wished I knew what she was thinking right now.

"Different is good Bella. It makes you special and one of a kind." There was no point in talking to her like a child, which would just piss her off so that's why I jumped straight to the point.

She didn't say anything after that and I saw her little shoulders slump slightly as she took in another breath. I wasn't used to seeing her like this, gone was this happy go lucky little girl and now all I'm seeing is a mature little lady in a small body.

It wasn't the Bella I was used to, so I did the best thing I could think of.

I tickled her.

I tickled the crap out of her and my ears were finally met with her amazing laughter.

"Noooooo…s-stop…..p-p-pleaseee stop!" her little body tried to get away from me but I continued tickling her because I knew deep down that she loved it.

"Edward!" that fucking made me stop.

She just said my name.

I did hear her right. I have fucking perfect hearing of course I heard her right.

"Did you just say my name little one?"

"Yes" she replied, still giggling as she looked up at me. I was up on my feet in an instant and held her up high in my arms smiling up at her and she started laughing again.

"Edward put me downnn!" she scream laughed and then I crushed her to me as I gave her a hug. She wrapped her little arms around my neck and hugged me back.

I couldn't possibly describe the euphoric feeling I felt as I heard my name. I was about to start spinning us in circles but then I got a waft of something disgusting. My phone began ringing and I didn't need to look at it to know it was Alice.

"Are you two ok? Your futures just disappeared, what's going on Edward?"

"One of the wolves is here. Alice we gotta go." I didn't wait for her to reply.

"Bella we have to go." She didn't question me but pointed out into the forest.

"Look Edward, big doggy!" I didn't need to turn around to the direction she was pointing out because I could hear the fucker.

'_Arghh I can smell the leech but what the fuck is that humming sound and why can I smell human blood?'_

'_Paul get the fuck back, this isn't our turf'_

'_Paul what the hell are you doing out there? Get back before Jacobs finds out!' _

It was painful hearing all of them at once, I have no idea how they put up with that but nor do I care. I ran as fast as I could back to the car. Bella hung on to me but not as tightly as I liked, she trusted me way too much. I know she can't get hurt but I really didn't want any unnecessary accidents.

That was pretty brave of the dog to come near here, he should have known better than that.

I just hope they don't figure out that other scent or the humming of Bella's heart.


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

"Are you two ok?" Carlisle asked as I lifted Bella out of the car. She wiggled in my arms and I put her down so she could run inside the house.

"Emmet! Emmet! We saw this huge doggy and it was as tall as a tree!" yeah Bella tends to exaggerate a little.

I heard everyone gasp but didn't say anything. We all gathered around in the living room and I was bombarded with questions.

"Son what happened?" Carlisle asked me as he handed Bella her sippy cup and then kiss her forehead as he sat down and placed her on his lap.

"One of the wolves, Paul, he was in the forest by the meadow, he heard her heartbeat and could smell her human blood but couldn't work out what the sound was. It was painful to listen to all of them speak at once. Others mentioned Jacob Black, the one who killed Charlie, told this Paul that he will get into trouble and needs to get off our turf." At the mention of Charlie everyone looked at Bella as she scrunched up her nose.

She moved the sippy cup away from her mouth, burped, and went back to drinking as she rested against Carlisle's chest.

We all chuckled at her and she just smiled back at us but everyone was thinking the same thing I was.

She will need to know about Charlie, how he risked his life to save hers, in a way. Carlisle wrapped his arms around Bella tighter and she tilted her head up at him and smiled.

Yeah we all saw him as the father figure but we mostly looked at him as our mentor. Seeing him with Bella makes me really see how amazing of a father he really is. To her, he is her father in every way. She will know about her biological father but not yet, she is too young for that. I'm sure she would understand what we're telling her but she simply doesn't need to be worrying about anything.

Not at this age, we haven't even celebrated her first birthday yet.

"Finished!" Bella called out and it had actually made the lot of us jump because it had gotten so quiet and everyone was lost in their thoughts.

"Come on little sunshine, let's go exploring."

"Yay exploring! Pops can we jump over the river?" she was surprisingly chatty today and I was glad to see her being back to her old self.

"Do you think we should have a meeting with the wolves?" Emmet sounded concerned, it was either that or he wanted to pick a fight.

"If it happens again then yes, like I said, he couldn't work out what the sound of her heart was." He nodded at my reply.

"But what if next time it will be worse, what if they actually see her?" Rosalie finally voiced her concern.

"Then I think it's time we contact the Amazons and find out as much as we can so that when the time comes, we can reassure them that Bella is harmless." Jasper answered her instead, and it was exactly what I was thinking.

"Of course Bella is harmless! She's just a child!" we all turned to face Esme who had been quiet throughout all of this. She was close enough to snarling at Jasper and it quite frankly shocked us.

"Emmet and Rose, see if you can find plane tickets for tomorrow. We might as well get this over and done with. If you can, bring them here and if not then make sure you find out as much as you can." I chose Rose and Emmet because I knew how much Emmet will want to escape a little with his wife. He smiled at me as a thanks and I nodded in return, understanding completely.

"Come on babe, let's go." She took his outstretched hand and they walked out of the living room and into the office upstairs.

I didn't care that Rosalie will realise why I have asked them to do this, I knew she would agree to go because this concerns Bella's safety. We all know she would do anything for Bella.

She didn't want to miss anything during the time her and Emmet will be gone and was trying to come up with a way to get the Amazons to come back home with them. Rose was eager to start planning Bella's birthday when she gets back. It was another five months left till Bella's birthday, yet Alice and Rose have already started getting decorations together.

I was finding it hard to come up with something to get her, she is growing up so quickly and I wanted her first birthday to be special. We have no idea whether after her first birthday, she might develop any powers. There was still a great part of me that wished I might be able to hear her thoughts. For all we know, hybrids might not even have any powers simply because of them being half human and half vampire.

My mind was still trying to come up with a present as I listened to Bella giggling at whatever she and Carlisle were up to. I could easily just listen to Carlisle's mind and see what he's seeing but I didn't want to intrude into their father daughter time. He gets to spend the least time with her because he is always at the hospital. Whatever time he gets with Bella, he always tries to make the most of it because she is always occupied with something someone else is trying to teach her.

I still couldn't help but listen to him teach her about the trees that surrounded our house. She listened to every word that left his mouth and then would look at the tree, touch it and quietly say its name. We learnt that this was her way of processing the information she was given.

I suddenly turned to Alice before she was able to gasp. I watched as the vision played out in her mind.

"Alice what is it sugar?" Jasper was by her side instantly, kneeling in front of her and taking her face in his hands.

"The Denali's, they're coming."


	11. Chapter 10

**Hey guys just a quick note, I'm sorry for the delay but my internet and I are not seeing eye to eye this week and I am therefore abusing my boyfriend's internet :D I know I usually update at the beginning of the week so I'm sorry that you had to wait xo**

**Chapter 10**

"_The Denali's, they're coming."_

Everyone froze.

There was pure silence.

No one took a breath.

No one moved.

We stared at Alice who kept going through the vision in her head. It was fall and the house was decorated in birthday banners. That means they will be here in September.

"What do you mean they are coming? When?" Esme was the first to break the silence. Everyone was back in the living room in an instant.

I watched as Bella walked in beside Carlisle and walked straight over to Alice and climbed on her lap, snuggling closer to her. Alice wrapped her arms around Bella and squeezed quite tightly.

"It will be ok Alice." She quietly told her and planted a kiss on Alice's cheek. Bella has no idea what's going on but she always saw the bright side of things.

"They are coming here, to visit us. They will be here on Bella's birthday. Rose have you found the plane tickets?" she asked frantically turning to face Rosalie.

Rose looked at her questioningly.

"You should know whether I've found them or not, Ali you see the future." Confusion crossed both of their faces but then Rosalie just nodded in answer.

"We're leaving tomorrow morning." Emmet told everyone.

We were all going through different scenarios. Should we hide Bella? Should we tell them about Bella and Charlie's letter? Every time someone made a decision Alice saw the same outcome. The Denali sisters freak out and want to report this to the Volturi.

"They have to know about her. They have to know everything and I mean everything. Emmet and Rose please make sure you can bring the Amazon's here. Whatever decision we make; it all leads to them wanting to expose Bella to the Volturi. They see her as the immortal their mother created before the Volturi killed her." We all listened to Alice as she explained what would happen.

I couldn't take my eyes off the little girl sat in her lap. She looked worried yet content. When she turned to look at me, her eyes began to sparkle and if I wasn't mistaken, there was a slight blush on her cheeks.

I motioned for her to come over to me and she did so after giving Alice one more kiss on the cheek. I picked her up and cradled her in my lap like a baby, making her giggle. I live for that sound now, I was pretty sure everyone needed to hear it so I began tickling her. Her attempt at escaping was useless and something told me she enjoyed it, even if it tickled.

Her laughter ran loud and clear through the house and I felt everyone relax slightly. Or maybe it was Jasper's doing but nevertheless, it wasn't as tense in the house as before.

"Stop! Please Edward stop!" she screamed as I carried on tickling her.

"I'll stop if you tell me I'm your favourite person in the world." I told her whilst laughing along with her.

"I'm your favourite person in the world!" she replied back and that did make me stop, because she has just outsmarted me.

This time, the whole family laughed at us. I just stared down at the most beautiful little girl in my arms.

Her words couldn't be further from the truth. She has literally become my most favourite person in the world.

The conversation about the upcoming guests and Emmet and Rosalie's travels carried on whilst I held Bella in my arms. I would look down at her every once in a while and every time I did she would look up at me and smile. I was glad to find her quite content and that the conversation around Bella didn't bother her.

Unconsciously, I began humming a new lullaby that has been stuck in my head for a few days now. When I looked down, I noticed Bella was asleep. I brought her closer to me, a sign that would normally happen when people wanted to keep the other person warm. I couldn't keep Bella warm nor was she actually cold but it was now automatic to keep her close to me whilst she slept.

There was a part of me that wanted to go with Emm and Rose, but I couldn't bring myself to leave the beautiful little girl in my arms. Without looking up, I could feel Rosalie looking at her and then back up at me. When Bella and I are together like this, they can't help but think about the future and weather Bella is destined for me.

I'd be lying if I said that their thoughts didn't excite me for the future, but for now, all I want is for this little girl to make the most of her childhood. She's different and she knows it but that doesn't mean she has to miss out on all the things kids do her age.

We didn't celebrate Christmas or Easter this year. I can't say that we are big on holidays especially Easter and Bella was still too young to fully understand what they meant. Birthdays are also a touchy subject in this house because we didn't see the need to celebrate our frozen age. Once again, with Bella here, we are beginning to make changes to that.

Once we celebrate Bella's first birthday, we will celebrate Christmas and Easter with her too.

Alice always insisted on decorating the house for Christmas so that won't be new and we all got a little something for one another. This year, I got a feeling there will be one little person in this house who will get spoilt rotten with presents, both on her birthday and Christmas. I saw flashes of the whole family going on an egg hunt and Bella ordering us around. I even saw her asking Emmet to lift up a boulder just so she wouldn't need to walk around it to see if there was a hidden egg.

"I'm going to put her to bed, she's had quite the day." I smiled down at her as I stood up, one by one the family walked over to us and bid her goodnight.

Rosalie kissed her forehead and then told me she will come up in a minute to spend some time with her.

I was probably the only person who fully understood why she wanted some time alone with her before she has to leave.


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Whilst I chased the caribou, the scent in the air changed into something so much sweeter. It was the smell of something I have longed for a while but couldn't always have.

Mountain lion.

I had to keep track on their population in the area as to not raise any suspicions, that's why I couldn't hunt them as often as I'd like.

After putting Bella to bed I made sure her blanky was within reach as she tended to search out for it in her sleep and would even wake up and start grunting at times when she couldn't reach it. She loved sleeping with it. She had nearly thrown a fit when Esme tried to wash it, the blanky itself has a distinct smell to it, it smells like Bella yet something else lingers with it; maybe it was Charlie's scent, we weren't sure. The one thing we do know is that we are not allowed to wash it.

At least she didn't drag that blanky everywhere she went because it would definitely be filthy. What she does take with her on her adventures is this little floppy bunny toy Rosalie got for her. That poor bunny _used to be_ a rich creamy colour – emphasise on the words used to be- it is now brown with slight grass stains all over it.

I laughed to myself thinking back to the time she played catch with Jasper using the bunny as the ball. For someone so tiny, Bella has one hell of an arm. Jasper had to run quite the distance to catch Little Bunny.

My mind was so wrapped up thinking about Bella that I nearly missed my prey.

I had to speed up in order to catch up with my meal but couldn't help the goofy smile that covered my face as flashes of Bella kept running through my mind.

As I neared closer to the mountain lion, my thirst for its blood overshadowed everything else around me. All I wanted was to clench that burning ache in my throat. With one last leap, I collided with my meal and finally sunk my teeth into it. It didn't put up much of a fight but the blood was pumping quickly within the animal.

Once I drained it, I made sure to get rid of the evidence. We made sure to bury our meals so that it wouldn't raise suspicions if someone were to come across a dead animal such as an elk or mountain lion. Even if we hunted far into the forest, we still made sure we were careful.

There was no rush for me to get home, so I took my time. My mind was all over the place, being a vampire I could think about a thousand of things all at once. I was thankful no one was with me because I couldn't bear having to listen to someone else's mind too.

Of course, my main focus was on Bella.

I had never heard of hybrids before and I was eager for Emmet and Rosalie to get back with all the information about them. Bella couldn't possibly be the only one because there are vampires who mate with humans but no one quite expects them to get pregnant. That could also be because most humans don't survive after having sex with a vampire. I wouldn't know myself but I have been told countless of times by Emmet and Jasper that the whole experience consumes you, it's like being in a hunt, your instincts take over and there's no stopping. The only thing that could survive that is the other vampire, not a puny human.

I don't understand how the Denali sisters put up with it, Kate, Irena and Tanya enjoy human men. They claim to be the original succubae but I think that's bullshit. Don't get me wrong, all three women are stunning but I think that's just an excuse for them to go after human men.

We're not exactly supposed to interact so much with humans.

Carlisle is the only exception because he's well, he's Carlisle.

Thinking about Carlisle made me think about him wanting to do some test's on Bella. He has been thinking about it for a while now, but still hasn't voiced his thoughts with anyone. I know he is aware of the fact that I know but he has made no indication about actually following through. He doesn't want to scare his little girl but he can't help but be curious. He wants to know whether she has any venom in her blood and just how fast her heart is actually beating. He could obviously just listen out for it and count it but he doesn't trust his own judgment and would rather do it properly.

I didn't even want to think about Bella being poked and probed with needles and monitors. I think it would definitely frighten her. He simply needs to wait for her to grow up a little. I know he wouldn't do it without her consent, but if she is slightly older, she would at least be able to understand what's going on.

Thinking about Bella growing up made me think about the vision Alice had the day we found her in the meadow. I knew for a fact the stunning woman at the top of our stairs was Bella. The rich mahogany hair and the way she was looking at me, I see the same look in Bella now. The woman in the vision had Bella's heart shaped face and the same slight blush was on her cheeks. What made me break into an even bigger smile was the second part of that vision. The two of us were in our meadow and me leaning down to kiss her. I don't think I've ever seen myself this happy as I was in the vision.

As I neared closer to home, I was glad to see that I still couldn't hear my family. I was still trying to sort out through my thoughts and didn't need theirs to be added to it.

As I slowed down to just walking I suddenly felt uneasy, like something was wrong. I don't know what it was but it made me speed up my pace. As I got even closer to the house I began to panic.

"Edward! I need my Edward!" my heart dropped at the sound of Bella crying out for me.

"Edward!" she continued to scream.


	13. Chapter 12

**Just wanted to say a huge THANK YOU to TeamVampires for your reviews! They made me smile…a lot! **

**Chapter 12**

I burst through the back door and raced up to her room. Rosalie was by her side trying to comfort her but it wasn't working. Bella was now in hysterics, I have never seen her like this and it broke my heart seeing tears run down her cheeks.

"Hey beautiful, I'm right here." I knelt in front of her and she moved from her bed and into my arms.

"What happened?" I asked Rosalie as she looked at us, she looked like she was close to tears herself.

"After I watched her sleep for a bit, I left and went to pack my bag. Everything was fine, she fidgeted a bit but that was it. And then she started crying out for you. She wouldn't let me take her and continued to demand for you. She won't tell me what was wrong. She just wanted you." Rose reached out and stroked Bella's hair and then got up, leaving us on the floor in Bella's room.

I cradled her closer to me and began humming her lullaby; I felt my t-shirt get wetter as she continued to cry. I listened out and realise no one else was at home, they must have gone out hunting.

"It's ok little one, I'm here now. Will you tell me what happened?" I drew random patterns on her back as I rocked us slightly. I then stood up with her in my arms and walked us over to the rocking chair in her room. We used the chair for bed time stories and sometimes she just liked being rocked in it.

She shook her head in answer and clung onto me even more. I could feel how much force she put behind it too.

"Please, I hate seeing you like this, if you tell me, it will make you feel better. I promise." I told her quietly as I began rocking us again.

"Pinkie promise?" she asked and then stuck her tiny pinkie out.

"Pinkie promise." I wrapped my pinkie finger around hers and then felt her sigh into me and relax a little.

Jasper taught her about pinkie promises. She took that shit seriously, she knows that a pinkie promise can't be broken.

"I had a bad dream." She whispered and then hid her face from me.

"What happened?" I asked again and it took her a while to respond to me.

"We were in the meadow and there were a lot of the huge doggies there with us. They wanted to hurt you." She spoke louder this time.

I felt her hold her breath as she waited for me to answer. I didn't really know what to say to her, the only thing I wanted to do was make sure she never had to see those damn mutts again. Deep down, I knew that it was inevitable. Carlisle will want to meet with them to explain about Bella before it gets out of hand.

"I promise you now, no one will hurt you. I won't allow it." She doesn't know how hard I'll try to keep this promise. She's part of this family, she's part of our world and she's a part of my heart.

"Pinkie promise?" she peeked up at me and batted her long eyelashes at me making me chuckle.

"Pinkie promise" once again our pinkies entwined and this time she beamed up at me.

I smiled back at her and then pulled her closer to my chest again, she sighed in content and then relaxed against me. I carried on rocking us back and forth, humming a song I heard earlier in the day. Once the song finished I started a different one, hoping Bella will fall back asleep but I was surprised when she began humming along with me.

"You should be sleeping little one." I told her quietly as she continued humming.

"I'm not tired Edward." I will never get tired of hearing my name in her sweet voice.

I sat us up and she looked up at me, smiling sweetly yet there was a cheeky glimmer in her eyes. Just by that look I knew she was up to something, but what I didn't expect was the light kiss on my cheek. I sat there stunned for what felt like hours but was probably just a few minutes. She giggled and then climbed off my lap and ran out of her room calling Rosalie.

Well I was glad she was feeling better.

That girl always surprises me. I can never guess just what she will do next. I stood from the rocking chair still shaking my head in disbelief and made my way downstairs. I could hear Bella asking Rosalie all sorts of girly question and then I heard awkward footsteps in heels which I knew for a fact Bella is wearing. She began rummaging through the girls shoes about two weeks ago, loving the clicking sound the heels made as she walked in them.

I personally had no idea how she is able to walk in them at all, but the pride in Alice's eyes was evident. Rosalie of course thought it was totally unsafe and Bella could break her neck which led her into having a meltdown as she screamed the house down. Esme on the other hand, found it funny and took pictures.

We guys didn't get involved mainly because we were shit scared to get in the way of Rosalie. She was like an angry grizzly, the type Emmet loved to chase. It was Esme who was able to calm her down and Alice had to reassure her that Bella will be perfectly fine. I'm not going to lie, for a moment I too thought it was too dangerous for her, but then I saw the same thing Alice did.

I have to keep telling myself that she isn't just human, she isn't so fragile and if she were to fall over in those heels she wouldn't exactly hurt herself and one of us would be there in no time to catch her.

I smiled to myself again as I sat down behind the computer and started on more research.

**AN a huge sorry for the late update, still having issues with internet which will hopefully be sorted out soon. I hope you enjoy the chapters xo**


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

It has been three days since Rosalie and Emmet left for the Amazon. The house has been awfully quiet. That's due to the fact that there's no Emmet and therefore Bella has no one to do silly stuff with. She goes to every one of us for different things and Emmet is her Up-To-No-Good-Go-To-Guy.

We have been waiting patiently for their return. According to Alice, the Amazon's didn't feel comfortable leaving their home, therefore Emm and Rose had to stay there in order to get all the information we'll need. Alice has also told us that they will be back tomorrow. That piece of information had Bella bouncing off the walls with excitement which Jasper kindly let us feel too.

There was a mix of emotions radiated to us, there was love, excitement, happiness but also worry. Carlisle had taken Bella aside and asked what she was worried about and she simply told him that she thinks they will come back with bad news. We didn't quite realise how observant she is, the fact that she understood what this trip was about came as a surprise to me.

I never thought this will be easy, taking her on and everything, but for god's sake, she is too young to know and understand any of this. I guess this is what had angered me the most. She is growing too fast and for now it just feels like there's a sward hanging above her head.

She's not weak, far from it, but she is too small and too young to take care of herself if something were to happen.

I'm not saying we would not be there to look out for her but if this were to reach the Volturi, we're as good as dead.

That is the last thing I want for my Bella.

oo0oo

I listened as Jasper was teaching Bella how to read one of his history books, she has already completed her children's books and apparently is bored with reading the same thing.

I shook my head as I prepared her sippy cup. I'll never forget the night we sat in her rocking chair and I asked her to read for me. She opened one of her Winnie The Pooh books and started reading, she got through the first page easily and as she flipped to the next page, she let out a huge huff and threw the book across her room.

I had sat there in shock and then couldn't help but laugh at her scowling face.

"_It's not funny Edward! I have read this book already! Pooh gets stuck in the hole and his friends help him get out of it, he eats honey and then gets on with his day. I need to broaden my mind Edward!" _

_I carried on laughing at her and then she climbed off my lap and padded down to the study, I followed her, laughing the whole time and then helped her reach for one of the books she was pointing at in the study. She huffed at me this time and then sauntered back to her room. She waited for me to sit down and then climbed on my lap again with the book still in her little hands. _

_She settled on my lap and then opened the first Harry Potter book. _

_I laughed again, surprised she wanted to read about wizards._

"_Shhhh." She shushed me and began reading. I kissed the top of her head and let her get on with it._

I brought the sippy cup out to her and without looking up at me, she inhaled deeply and stretched her short arm out for the cup whilst still reading. Both Jasper and I laughed and she shushed us both and put her tiny index finger on the sentence she stopped at she looked up and glared at us. She rested against Jasper's chest as she drank her lunch.

I then noticed the way Jaspers eyes darkened at the smell of the blood in Bella's cup.

"Jazz man when was the last time you fed?" I asked him concerned slightly.

"I was supposed to go with the family a few days ago but I had to take care of a few things, so nearly two weeks ago." He replied as he looked out the window and into the forest.

Bella looked from me to Jasper and then back to me like a tennis match. She made a slurping sound as she drank the last drop of her lunch and then set the sippy cup to the side.

"Isn't it time you drank from a big girl cup Bella?" Jasper asked as he smirked at her.

"Isn't it time you went to hunt Jasper?" Bella rebounded as she smirked back at Jasper.

"Touché little darlin'." He laughed and then tickled her just to hear her laugh.

She completes us all, without her the family just wouldn't be the same. I don't know how I didn't see this years ago, she was always the missing puzzle piece.

"Go hunt Jazzy, there's no need to make yourself uncomfortable." Alice leaned against the doorframe as she watched us.

She sang a Taylor Swift song in her head which meant she was hiding something from me.

"What is it Alice?" I asked her but she just winked at me and took Bella away from Jasper. I looked at Jasper but he looked just as clueless as I felt.

I then saw a glimpse of Alice dressing Bella in a top that said 'Daddy's Little Girl'. It looked adorable and just from that I knew Alice was planning to do some sucking up to Carlisle using Bella.

"Stay out of my mind Edward!" she called out as she walked into Bella's room.

I somehow didn't have a good feeling about this, it just didn't feel right. They were definitely up to something.

Now Bella was actually singing that Taylor Swift song out loud and then both girls giggled.

Just then Carlisle walked through the door

"Kids I'm home!" he called out and that always got a response out of Bella.

She squealed all the way downstairs and into his arms. Jasper and I followed her downstairs just to see what Alice is up to.

"What's this?" Carlisle asked as he looked at Bella's top and then raised an eyebrow at us.

Jazz and I put our hands up in response telling him that we have nothing to do with this. He then turned to Alice and raised his eyebrow. She beamed at him and then went over to him and wrapped her arms around Carlisle and Bella.

"Daddy, Bella and I were wondering if we could go out shopping?"

Silence, that was Carlisle response, he just stared at them two. Bella was batting her eyelashes at him and Alice was giving him her pouty look.

"Please daddy!" Bella said and then hugged him tighter.

"No." Carlisle finally responded.

"Dad!" both girls said and then they were pouting again.

"First of all, it might be too dangerous. What if the Quileutes are there? Secondly, Alice how could you use your little sister like that? And thirdly, Edward how are you fine with this?" he then turned to glare at me but I saw a little flicker of amusement in his eyes.

I was sure Alice will be able to see that he would indeed let them go.

"But I already saw how this would go, if our futures would have disappeared then we wouldn't go. Bella is my little minion, she's my secret weapon to everything." Alice replied and then winked as she looked at Bella. Bella herself just nodded along to everything in response.

I still stood there. Not saying anything.

"I would love to see how this plays out but I really need to go hunt." He walked over to Alice and gave her a kiss, he then kissed Bella's forehead and left out the back door.

Carlisle was still trying to look stern about the situation and I just wanted to laugh about it, especially at the next thing that came out of his mouth.

"Ask your mother."


	15. Chapter 14

**AN- thank you guys for your reviews! I loved reading every single one of them and I love the fact that you enjoyed every dads famous line. **

**Chapter 14**

"Carlisle will you just say yes?!" Alice huffed in frustration.

"What happened to daddy?" he asked her and raised his eyebrow again.

"Aliceee shhhhh, stick to the plan!" Bella tried to whisper but of course we all heard.

I could no longer hold in my laughter, I personally don't think I have laughed this much in my entire existence. I even saw Alice's shoulders shake with silent laughter. Carlisle had a huge smile plastered on his face and then he kissed Bella's temple and set her down.

"Like I said, ask your mother." He smirked and then made his way upstairs.

"Quick Alice do I have a mommy top?" Bella asked as she stared wide eyed at Alice.

"No you don't munchkin but just go and ask her nicely anyway." Alice whispered to Bella.

Bella nodded her head and then ran out into the garden.

"You're unbelievable Ali, but nice move on using Bella and the daddy part. It made him melt." I wasn't joking either. It made his un-beating heart swell at the sight of his girls and especially Bella's top.

Alice was about to respond but then she started bouncing around on the spot and clapping her hands.

I then saw what she did.

Apparently I am going shopping with two very excited girls.

For some reason I felt calmer about this trip, I didn't expect to feel like that knowing that Bella would have been fine with Alice. I didn't realise I had doubts about this myself.

Just then, Esme and Bella walked through the back door, Bella swinging Esme's arm as they walked towards us.

"Edward sweetheart I want you to go with Alice and Bella. You know, so they wouldn't have to carry all the bags." That wasn't the reason she wanted me to go with them. She wanted me there so I could protect them if something were to happen.

"Fine, I'll go with them." I got a silent thank you from Carlisle upstairs and another one from Esme. What made me break into a smile was the excitement in Bella's eyes. She stared up at me like I hung the moon.

"Thanks Esme. Come on you two, you need to get changed. Bella come with me, Edward I can trust you with your own clothes right?" she raised her eyebrow at me and then picked up Bella and made their way upstairs. I still stood there shocked at the fact that Alice didn't trust me to dress myself.

"Thank you Edward, it's not that I don't trust Alice's visions but it would make both your father and I calmer about you taking Bella out for the first time, knowing that you will be there too." She kissed my cheek and then walked out back to the garden.

'_Edward could you come into my office please'_

Carlisle's thoughts sounded amused and I wondered what he wanted to talk to me about.

I walked into his office and found him sat behind his polished oak table. There were a dozen of books scattered everywhere, all of them looked thousands of years old. I noticed that most of them were in Latin whilst the rest were in old English.

It was obvious that he still carried on doing research on hybrids even though Rose and Emmet have gone straight to the source.

"Sit son." He motioned to the plush chair in front of him and I took it.

"I have some rules whilst you're out in public with Bella." He obviously spoke out loud so that Alice could hear it too, as well as Bella because he knew she would understand.

"I want you to listen out for any thoughts that seem, I don't know, anxious if you like. If you see anyone who knows you or me and they ask about Bella, tell them she's the new member of the family. I'm sorry little sunshine but I don't want you going to places where there are children's activities or games. Watch her speed too Edward, she tends to move really quickly sometimes. I'm sure you understand why I felt hesitant about letting them go but I'm glad you're accompanying them." He sat back in his chair and smiled at me.

"You don't need to worry Carlisle, I will take care of them." He nodded at my response so I stood up and made my way out of his office. As I closed the door I heard his thoughts drift to the fact that he and Esme will be home alone and that's when I knew I needed to block him out.

I went straight into my room and found that clothes were already laid out on my bed. I guess Alice did that whilst I was talking to Carlisle, she obviously doesn't trust me to make my own decision on what I should wear. I knew it was best to just accept it and not argue about it. Alice has always picked our clothes so it really doesn't come as a surprise to me.

As I put on the black fitted jeans Alice laid out I heard my most favourite sound in the world, Bella was giggling as Alice tickled her whilst dressing her. I could listen to that sound all day.

It sounded so carefree and happy.

That's how I always want her to be.

I put on the charcoal grey sweater and black boots and picked up my car keys and wallet. I knocked on Alice's door and peaked in to check if they were ready. Bella was dressed in navy jeans and a white cashmere sweater and little black pumps. She dressed like a grown up and was as fashionable as the rest of the family. Of course all of that was due to Alice.

"Edward she won't let me wear my Chucks." Bella huffed and then walked over to me and wrapped her arms around my left leg.

"Bella I told you that your sweater doesn't go with Chucks. Baby girl, cashmere and Chucks just don't mix." Alice shook her head and then grabbed her purse.

We made our way downstairs and into the garage, calling out our goodbyes as we made our way to the Volvo.

They had a huge debate about who was going to sit at the front with me but Alice won as she started babbling on about road safety and I saw that it went in through one ear and out the other with Bella. She sneaked me a glance which said 'why did I bother' and I just walked over and opened the back door and she climbed in without saying a word. Alice carried on talking about road safety whilst Bella sang along to the song that came on as I started the car.

The pace at which she matured was increasing by the hour. I still cherished the moments where she couldn't help but be a kid. She had her whole life to become a grown up. I was ready for Rosalie and Emmet to get back because I needed to know everything about her growth.

"Edward turn the music up please!" Bella shouted from the back seat and started bouncing as her favourite song came on by Carly Rae Jepsen. I did what the little princess required and turned it up. Call Me Maybe blasted through the car and I listened as Alice and Bella sang along to the lyrics.

As we reached the city's speeding limit I had to unfortunately slow down. You don't normally see my Volvo series drive so fast but that was because no had Rosalie look under the hood. I had to try and keep it subtle. I have been thinking about getting a new car for a while now, something I could drive fast and it wouldn't seem unusual.

I could make this trip worth my while after all.


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

We reached the mall in no time and as soon as I parked the car we were on our way to the first shop.

"Ali where to first?" I asked as I held onto Bella's hand because she kept walking ahead of us. This is what Carlisle meant when he said she sometimes moves too fast.

"Well I need to do all of our shopping first, there are a few things Rose wanted me to pick up for her. Jazz and Emm want some new games too but I'll leave that up to you. Then we need new clothes for Bella Boo because she keeps growing out of them." She winked at Bella who giggled and carried on staring at everything in wonder.

Bella kept standing on her tiptoes because she couldn't see past the people in front of us.

"Come here little one, you can sit on my shoulders whilst we do our shopping." I lifted her up and placed her on my shoulders so that she could see everything in front of her.

I wasn't a huge fan of shopping malls because there were just too many minds surrounding me. I could tune them out but I had a job to do. What I sort of wanted most right now was to be able to listen to Bella's thoughts. This is her first time out in public and there are so many things here that she hasn't seen before. She kept running her little hands through my hair and it was very calming.

I noticed how every once in a while she would hold her breath and it worried me that it might be too much for her.

"You ok up there Bella?" I asked quietly, knowing she could hear me. As soon as she heard me she relaxed and began breathing normally.

The only reply I got from her was a head nod. I didn't need to have Jasper's ability to know something is bothering her. She's more reserved now and is hardly saying a word. She does that sometimes at home, she knows how to speak but sometimes chooses not to. It can be quite frustrating at times, but then again, a human baby wouldn't be talking at this age either.

I simply let her get accustomed to the surroundings without having to push her.

We followed Alice everywhere she needed to go, she would sometimes take Bella with her whilst she made me wait with the bags outside the shop. They would come out with the biggest grins on their faces but wouldn't tell me what they're smiling about.

Bella would still ask me to carry her on my shoulders but now I at least got one worded answers from her.

I noticed the way she would stare at other kids as we walked past them but was almost too afraid to look at them. She was simply fascinated with everything but didn't dare speak out. She fully understood the rules Carlisle had given her. She would let out a huff every once in a while but would then focus on something else.

We were in one of the designer stores when Alice stopped momentarily and then reached into her bag and pulled out Little Bunny. She gave it to me and carried on browsing through clothes. I looked the bunny over and wondered why she had it and why she had given it to me.

'_It's for Bella'_

Without asking, I handed Bella Little Bunny and she quickly grabbed it from my hands. A moment later she froze again.

"I'm sorry Edward. I moved too quickly." I hastily scanned through the minds of the people nearest to us and no one had noticed.

"It's fine little one, no one saw you." I reassured her and felt Little Bunny being rested on my head.

As we carried on walking from one shop to another, a majority of the people thought Alice and I are a couple and that Bella is our child, they would then take a look at our appearance and think otherwise. We do look young and no one wanted to believe that we had a child at this age.

A lot of the older women thought of Bella as our sibling and thought that it is cute the way I carried her on my shoulders.

"Alright you two this was my last shop and now it's time to shop for Bella." Alice clapped her hands and bounced on the spot for a bit. She then turned to me and pointed at the bags already in my hands.

"You my dear brother, will take the bags back to the car and we will meet you at the Disney store." She took Bella off my shoulders and then knelt in front of her.

"Ready for some shopping sweetie?" Bella nodded but didn't say anything in reply.

Alice took Bella's hand in hers and they turned to walk over to the kids section of the mall which was in the opposite direction of where I needed to go, Little Bunny was dragged across the floor as Bella walked alongside Alice.

I on the other hand, walked out to the parking lot and towards the spot where I parked the car. Seeing it parked next to most of the flashy cars made me finalise my decision about getting a new car.

As I locked the car up again the wind changed direction and I got a faint scent of wet dog. I knew it had to be one of the dogs from the reservation but it must have been here a while ago because the smell was really faint even for my senses.

I checked the area around me to see if I can pick up on its thoughts but I couldn't hear a thing. It bothered me that they could either still be here or the fact that someone followed us.

I didn't waste any more time and hurried back to Bella and Alice. It wasn't difficult to find them because I could hear Bella's heartbeat miles away. I am too attuned to that sound.

Walking into Disney store was a whole new experience, it was full of kids of all ages rushing to the toys and gadgets all at once. Bella and Alice were already at the checkout when I walked in so I was glad we wouldn't be in here for much longer.

As soon as Bella spotted me she rushed towards me and hugged my legs. I laughed and picked her up as we made our way out. The next few shops were just clothes for Bella. Alice did most of the work but when she couldn't decide which colour to get, she would then turn to Bella for advice.

We continued to follow Alice, playing thumb wars as we walked until I smelt the animal shop across from us. It was quite comical seeing Bella turn her head in slow motion towards the meowing and barking from the kittens and puppies.

That was quite clever on the marketing part to have a pet shop in the kids section of the mall.

"Can we go in there?" Bella asked me, it was a question I could hear from about every kid that walked past the shop.

For some reason, they didn't smell that appealing, blood ran through their veins but it didn't make me want to go animalistic with thirst.

I was about to answer her when Alice cut in.

"Go ahead, I'll be in this shop for a while, don't worry Edward everyone will be fine with it." I didn't quite understand the last part. Bella wiggled in my arms and I set her down on her feet. She grabbed my hand and led us to the pet shop.

Without looking at the puppies, she made a beeline to the kittens. I followed her over to the litter of five that were locked in one of those open top cages. Yeah they look cute but I couldn't understand why Bella was looking up at me with puppy dog eyes and batting her eyelashes at me.

"Can we get one please?" she asked me hopefully.

Only now did I understand what Alice meant.


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

We were finally on our way home, with a trunk full of shopping bags and a very happy little madam in the back seat.

They may be because there is a black and white kitten in a little cage next to her.

I couldn't resist giving her what she wants, once we left the shop with all the supplies to accommodate a kitten, Alice kept reassuring me that everyone at home will be fine with it. Even if they weren't, I wouldn't let them take it away from her.

I kept glancing back to see if they were both ok. Bella had taken it out of the cage and placed it in her lap. She was quietly whispering to him telling him that the car ride will be over soon. It was quite the sight.

"What are you going to name him sweetie?" Alice asked but I don't know why, I'm sure she already knew the answer to that.

"Moo." Bella answered with the biggest smile on her face.

"Why Moo Bella?" it was quite an odd name for a cat.

"Because of his fur silly." I didn't miss the eye roll she gave me. From the corner of my eye I saw Alice's shoulders shaking with silent laughter which wasn't so silent in her head.

'_That's why I asked'_ she told me.

"There's a lot of responsibility with having a pet Bella" I told her and she huffed at me.

"He's so fluffy I'm gonna die!" was her response.

This time, both Ali and I burst out laughing, she definitely watches too many films with Emmet. Thinking of Emmet, I was dying to know what they found out about hybrids.

Tomorrow couldn't come quick enough.

oo0oo

Moo wasn't as comfortable with the rest of us as he was with Bella. He followed her around everywhere, she loved the attention from her little pet and all we could hear was her laughter as she dragged the toy mouse on a string around the house as Moo chased it. She sometimes ran at vampire speed and sometimes slows down enough for Moo to catch up.

Carlisle wasn't too please about us bringing back a kitten but as soon as he saw Bella interact with it he couldn't help but love the little ball of fur. At first, Esme worried about the kitten scratching the furniture but then ignored it, simply basking in her daughter's happiness. Jasper wasn't so keen on the kitten but he soon changed his mind when Bella brought it up to him and introduced them.

It was cute, I'm not going to lie.

Alice thought so too because it wasn't long before she asked Jasper to help her with the clothing she bought. They were still up there, locked in their room.

I left Bella and Moo in the living room and walked over to my piano. Notes have been running through my head all day and I was eager to jot them down and see what I could master up. Every now and then, Bella would march from the living room to her bedroom carrying all sorts of toys and I even found her carrying Moo's bed up to her room.

"Is he sleeping with you little one?" I asked her as she marched past me for the umpteenth time. That was one little madam on a mission.

"Yeahh!" she called back. I chuckled to myself and continued playing around with my piano. I smelt it before I felt it rubbing up against my leg. People say that cats are full of character and that some loved to just be left alone. It was rare for cats to like to interact with people so much, especially vampires. You'd think the thing would be scared of us.

He wasn't about to jump on our laps and ask for a little behind the ear scratching but at least he wasn't hissing at us. I actually heard him purr before he sauntered off in search for Bella.

"No Moo, mommy will be angry." Curiosity got the better of me and I found myself in the living room looking at Moo about to climb the sofa and Bella looking at him with her hands on her hips.

He tilted his tiny head at her and meowed but she shook her head no and he sauntered over to the rug and dug his nails into that. How she was able to do that I have no idea, but it was quite impressive. The kitten is only six weeks old and I was surprised to see that he behaved himself.

"Are you thirsty Bella?" I knelt down in front of her and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

She beamed up at me and nodded her head.

"Maybe Moo will have some too." she looked over at where the kitten was and then raised her eyebrow.

As I got up, I lifted her up on my shoulders just like at the mall and walked us to the kitchen.

"Bella Moo wouldn't drink blood, kittens drink milk, which is something we actually don't have. How about after your drink, we go to the grocery store and buy some milk for Moo?" I saw her mull over what I was saying and then she simply nodded and pointed to the cupboard that held her sippy cups.

"Yes ma'am." I chuckled at her and got on with my task of feeding her. I sat her down on the top of the counter and waited for her to finish her drink.

As well as milk, we might as well get enough cat food for Moo.

"When can I go hunting with everyone?" she suddenly asked me.

I definitely wasn't expecting this from her yet.

"Is that something you want to do?" the whole house has gone silent, waiting for her response.

"It's something I've thought about. I'm growing up and I should be able to get my own food without having to drink it from a sippy cup." She growled at the sippy cup and threw it towards the sink but I caught it in a flash and laid it down in the sink gently.

She had obviously thought about this quite a lot if she threw her sippy cup with so much force.

"What did the sippy cup ever do to you?" I teased her. I was glad she at least cracked a smile.

"It makes me look like a child. Jasper was right, I should at least be drinking from a big girl cup." Ok so she totally needs reminding that she is in fact, a child.

"But that's just it Bella, you are a child, a child who is special and is growing up way to quickly for my liking. Emm and Rose won't be able to recognise you when they come back! But if hunting with us is what you want then please wait till the whole family is at home so we could all go together." I was in front of her again and held her little face in my hands.

She searched my eyes and then nodded, I leaned down and kissed the top of her head. When I stepped back she jumped off the counter and landed softly on her feet. It still shocked me that she could actually do that.

I shook my head and grabbed my car keys. I was about to call for Bella but she was by my side in an instant, shoes and coat on with a huge smile on her face.

"Let's go Edward."


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

"Bella angel you need to go to sleep." I was in my room, studying my music collection whilst Esme tried to get Bella to go to sleep. I chuckled to myself because it was getting harder and harder to make her sleep. We weren't sure whether this was because Emm and Rose will be coming back or the fact that the more she grew, the less she sleeps.

"I don't want to mom, can I sleep in Edward's room instead?" she put on her innocent voice which she always used with her parents to get her way.

It always worked too.

"I thought you wanted to sleep with Moo? You have to ask Edward himself sweetie, we can't just take over his room." I heard Bella giggle which was like music to my ears.

"Moo can come and sleep with me in Edward's room. Moo likes Edward, don't you Moo?" the kitten meowed back at her and then I heard it purr. Both Bella and Esme giggled and I heard Bella's bed sheets being pulled back and her feet touching the ground.

She walked into my room and jumped on my bed and under the sheets. She technically didn't need to ask whether she could sleep here, but we needed her to respect other people's privacy and make sure the girl knows her manners.

"Bella did you forget something?" Esme asked her as she too walked into my room.

'_I hope you don't mind son, but she shouldn't have just walked straight in here and get in your bed without asking.' _

Bella looked from Esme to me and then back to mom. She climbed out of bed and patted over to me, Moo following her every move.

"Is it ok if we sleep in here Edward?" she batted her long lashes at me swinging from side to side with her hands behind her back. She's nailed the adorable look to a T.

"Of course you can." I picked her up and put her to bed again, we all watched in amusement as Moo tried to jump on my high bed but his claws got stuck on the comforter and he stayed there, hanging.

I gently picked him up and placed him on top of the bed, he went exploring on my bed and then dropped unceremoniously next to Bella and rolled over on his back stretching out.

"Goodnight angel, only sweet dreams for my sweet girl." Esme gave Bella a kiss and stroked my cheek as she walked out of my room, closing the door behind her. There was a chorus of 'Goodnight Bella' from everyone else and she giggled before bidding them all goodnight.

She reached out and began scratching Moo's belly whilst looking at me, I still haven't moved from her side and I swear she was growing right in front of my eyes. It was sometimes hard to look at her as a sibling, my love for her is so much bigger than the love I have for Alice, Jasper, Emmet and Rosalie. I just wish I could see into the future and not just snippets of what Alice has seen.

I know I keep saying how I don't want her to grow up so quickly, but it's inevitable. I'd be lying if I said I wanted time to slow down, I'm eager to see the woman she will grow up to be.

"Do you want me to put some music on?" I asked her quietly, not wanting to interrupt Moo's purring because it was calming.

"Yes please." She tucked the sheet higher up and snuggled comfortably into my bed. I got up and walked over to my CD player and put on Debussy.

By the time I turned to walk back over to her she was already asleep.

'_Edward, they'll be back in two hours.' _Alice informed me

"Ok Alice." I replied quietly enough not to wake Bella. She looked like one of them little angels you see in paintings. To me she did have this glow around her and I could stare at her for hours, my love growing stronger and stronger.

I couldn't say what the future held but I am so looking forward to it, I want her to have everything her heart desires. For the first time in years, I'm looking forward to going back to school. By the time we start we will obviously have to move from Forks because the kids have seen us in town and if we started school here, it would be just too dangerous. When we're found in town we often get asked why we're not at school and we have to say we get home schooled. They then turn their noses up at us thinking we were spoilt rich kids.

People can think whatever they like, we just can't get too close to them, can't get attached to them.

Another plus to moving will be that we will be as far away from the Quileutes as possible. It's just too dangerous to have them around us, especially now that Bella is here. They're out of control and can't handle their temper. There's no way in hell I wanna get to know them or be civil with them, I'm not Carlisle. I know he just wants to prove to them that we're not dangerous to the humans they claim to be protecting, but if they refuse to listen then why should we keep trying?

The thing I am most scared off is them finding out about Bella, I know that day will come but I'm just not ready to accept it. I know we will be ready when the day comes but I still can't help but worry.

She is my life now.

**AN – I know this chapter is shorter than the rest but I wanted to leave the arrival of Rose and Emm for next time. I just wanted to give a quick heads up that my version of hybrid will be different from what SM has written. The unknown has been holding them back a little and I wanna move it forward quicker. We have the Denali's coming and also their encounter with the wolves. **

**I also want to give a huge thank you to all of you who have reviewed my little baby **** you guys rock! :P xo**


	19. Chapter 18

**AN- Hey guyssssss :D thank you so much to all of you who have stuck with me on this. Every Favourite and every Follow means the absolute world to me. I'm so sorry this is mega late but RL has caught up with me and it's got me trapped and won't let go. Work and all that jazz is taking up my writing and posting time *grrrrr* I will try and do my best to post again next week and will not leave you hanging. **

**I hope you enjoy this chapter lovelies xo**

**Chapter 18 **

The family sat around in the living room, the only sound in the house was the purr from Moo and Bella's somewhat steady heartbeat as they slept in my room. We were all waiting for Rosalie and Emmet to get back.

Alice said it won't be long now.

She was right of course because I could already hear the jeep as it made a turn into our house. They were either not thinking or they weren't close enough for me to hear their thoughts because all I got was silence.

However, that was the complete opposite of what's going on inside the family's head. Their thoughts ran on the same wavelength, but each one was concerned about different things.

For some reason, I was sure Alice knew whatever Rose and Emm knew but she isn't going to say anything. I'm not sure why I think this but it has crossed my mind as well as Carlisle's as to why she has been so quite lately, not saying a single word about their trip. Sure she gave us updates about where they are but nothing else.

It was either bad or she wanted the whole family to be here when we find out.

"Should we wake Bella?" Jasper asked because he was finding it hard to deal with the silence as well as the emotions everyone was going through.

"Let Rosalie do that, you know how much she's been missing her, she would love it to be the first person Bella sees when she wakes up." I told him and he nodded in understanding.

The jeep finally pulled into the garage and everyone in the house held their breath waiting for them to step into the house. I couldn't pick anything up from their thoughts because all I saw was the beautiful scenery they saw.

Everyone turned to look at me in the living room but I just shrugged my shoulders.

"Where's our Welcome Home party?" Emmet's loud voice boomed through the house and we all told him to shut up. Only then did it click that there was a person missing so he quickly covered his mouth and walked over to the couch with Rosalie in tow.

"She's asleep in my room Rose, bring her down and then you can tell us all you know." She smiled at me and was by the stairs when Esme stopped her.

"Rosalie sweetheart try not to scare Bella's kitten." We all snickered and both Emm and Rose looked confused. Rosalie made her way up into my room and quietly opened the door.

We could all hear her wake Bella up and we couldn't help but smile when we heard Bella scream with happiness. We all laughed when Rosalie was introduced to Moo but where shocked to hear the kitten hiss at her.

"You really let her get a cat?" Emmet asked, confusion was all over his face.

"Yeah Emm, it's kinda hard to say no to her." I told him and everyone laughed agreeing with me in their thoughts.

Rose finally descended down the stairs with a sleep rumpled Bella and an angry kitten following behind them. As soon as Bella spotted Emmet, she jumped out of Rosalie's arms and ran straight to him.

"SULLY!" she shouted as he wrapped his huge arms around her.

"Boo! Oh my god look at you! Who let you grow so quickly?" and just like that, I got a quick glimpse of the conversation with the Amazon's in his head _'After the first birthday, the growth will only increase.' _I took in a quick breath and everyone turned to look at me.

Emmet's thoughts turned completely blank again and I saw him give me a timid smile and then he turned back to Bella.

"It's all the blood I've been getting silly! You have to meet Moo, he's gonna love you!" it looked like she was losing her indoors voice because she couldn't help but shout in excitement.

Just then, a very grumpy kitten sauntered over to where Bella and Emm sat and rubbed himself on Emmet's leg.

Bella picked Moo up and brought him face to face with Emmet.

"Emmet meet Moo, Moo meet Emmet." It was quite adorable the way the kitten put his paw on Emmet's nose whilst he sat there in shock.

"Is he a snack?" and there goes my idiot brother.

The shock and hurt in Bella's face made me want to rip Emmet's arm off for being such an idiot. Bella brought Moo closer to her chest and then looked up at Emmet like he just kicked the kitten.

"Don't even think about it Emmet McCarty Cullen." She said in the sweetest voice yet and he truly looked like he was scared of what she may do to him.

"Whoa bro she just full named you." Jasper the genius spoke up. Nobody knew quite what to do because we couldn't tell just how serious both Emmet and Bella were.

"I was only joking Boo, I would never hurt your little friend." He looked at her apologetically.

"Promise?" she asked him.

"Pinkie promise" he held his pinkie out whilst she did the same and then they intertwined them together and shook on it. She reached up and gave Emmet a kiss on the cheek and then got off him and walked over to where I was sat.

She put Moo on the floor and he went off wondering around the house whilst Bella climbed on my lap and rested her back on my chest. I for one expected her to go to Rosalie or even stay with Emmet and so did Rosalie for that matter, but she didn't dwell on it for long because she knew how important this next conversation is going to be.

"So now that the introductions are over, let's get on with the most important part of why you two left." We were all kind of hoping Carlisle would start because we didn't quite know what to say.

"Once we got there, we really needed to hunt so we asked them where the best place was and you can't imagine the trill of hunting an Amazon cat!" Emmet looked as excited as a little kid on Christmas morning. My mouth pooled with venom with just the mere thought of what that would be like. I then promised myself that I would take Bella there one day.

I noticed the way Bella scowled at Emmet for talking about cats like that, I just hope her opinion will change once she starts hunting herself.

"Rosie you can do the honours, I'll fill in whatever else they need to know." Emmet looked at Rosalie lovingly whilst she nodded in response and then turned to us all.

"Bella is something special, that's for sure."


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

"She will reach her full maturity at seven, at that age she will look like a seventeen year old. Her growth will increase after her first birthday and then she may even develop powers like a full vampire. It is said that hybrids usually develop a mixture of the powers their biological parents had, but knowing that her mother was human, we don't know if she had anything –special- about her. However, that isn't always the case, hybrids can develop their own type of powers that have nothing to do with their parents. The hybrid we met is Nahuel, he has three hybrid sisters and none of them are venomous. This obviously means Bella is harmless to humans meaning she can't hurt them." Rosalie stopped at that and we just carried on staring at her.

There was too much to take in and I was too close to ripping my hair out from all the thoughts in the house. One of my arms was wrapped around Bella and her little hand kept drawing shapes on my arm and that amazingly kept me sane.

The most important piece of information we needed was the fact that Bella isn't venomous. That will be the one thing other vampires and them dogs will want to know and try to use it as an excuse.

"So what you're saying that Bella will reach full maturity at the age of seven?!" yeah I'm not handling that as well as I thought, or maybe that is because everyone else is freaking out about that fact too.

"Yeah bro, after her first birthday is when all those changes will start being more noticeable." Emmet sounded so calm that it actually shocked me.

Images of Bella at the age of seventeen crossed my mind over and over again as I listened to the family think and talk about all these changes. Bella sat on my lap, half listening and half humming a song as she carried on drawing patterns on my arm.

"Are you sleepy beautiful?" I asked her quietly, not wanting to disturb her calm bubble she wrapped herself in.

"Nope." She popped the p and carried on doing whatever she was doing before I interrupted her.

"That's another thing we didn't mention, the older Bella gets, the less sleep she will need or want. It will be entirely up to her whether she will want to sleep or not. The vampire in her overpowers the human side a little as she develops more so therefore she won't need sleep. Nahuel said he hasn't slept in a very long time and finds it more comforting being able to watch day turn into night and night turn into day." Never in my entire existence have I heard Emmet sound so serious and thoughtful, it was a little discomforting.

"See, I told you I don't need to sleep so much." Bella spoke out to no one in particular but we all laughed nonetheless. Just then, her whole body vibrated with the biggest yawn I've ever seen and she tried really hard to hide it but nothing got past me when it came to her.

"Come on, bed time for the half human and her sidekick cat." I tickled Bella's sides before standing up with her in my arms. Her laughter rang through the house as I carried her up to my room, Moo followed behind and then jumped on my bed again with ease this time.

I listened to my family's thoughts as I tucked Bella in and they were all focusing on our relationship. They could see that it wasn't just a sibling relationship and they all turned to Alice as if she could confirm it. She did indeed confirm it and was giving them a rundown of all the visions she's had of Bella and I.

I tried to block them out so I could focus on getting Bella to sleep but it was difficult because my own mind kept drifting off to all the visions Ali had showed me.

"Stay with me please." She quietly asked me. As I looked down at her, her eyes captured mine in a way that frightened me. If I didn't know any better, I'd say she could see right into my soul right now.

All I could do was nod.

I walked over to the other side of my bed and climbed on top of the covers and she scooted closer to me and finally closed her eyes. Moo wondered on top of the bed for a while and then finally got comfortable by Bella's feet.

As I laid there next to her, I watched the way her body relaxed and her mind drifted off into unconsciousness. The only way I could tell was that her breathing changed as well as her heartbeat.

Conversation carried on downstairs and they spoke loud enough so that I could hear it too. They didn't have anything new to tell us about Bella so Emm and Rose spoke about all the sights they saw and how the family should go there on vacation.

Carlisle instantly agreed because he wanted to meet Nahuel, I on the other hand, wasn't so sure that would be my reason for going. I instantly worried whether by the time we go, Bella will be old enough to find him attractive and maybe even want to be with him.

That green eyed monster I wasn't too familiar with reared its ugly head out at the thought of Bella wanting to be with this Nahuel, who is –in a way- her equal. It just wouldn't be right, she belongs here with the family, she belongs here with me.

As soon as that thought left my mind I was hit with a vision from Alice.

_Bella and I were in our meadow, the sun__ was high up and our little safe haven__ was covered in wild flowers. A gentle breeze blew Bella's hair and she closed her eyes momentarily, inhaling the air. I stood in front of her and whilst her eyes were closed, I got down on one knee and took her left hand in mine. She opened her eyes and then gasped as she saw me there. _

The vision then changed into all four women jumping around on the spot whilst hugging Bella.

I didn't know what to call all the emotions that ran through me at that time but all I knew was that if my heart would still be beating, it would have stopped at what I just saw.

I couldn't tell you how long I stayed with her because time seemed unimportant anymore. There was no need to count every minute like it's the last because I didn't see the threat hanging over our heads anymore. This little angel was harmless to the world and I will do everything that I can to show that.


	21. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

To say the months after Emmett and Rosalie's return have flown by would be an understatement. We are now a week away from Bella's first birthday and it has been chaos ever since the planning began. It is supposed to be just a family affair but knowing the Denali's are coming has made everything a little bit more complicated that it should have been.

Bella of course was in bliss watching decorations been changed from Fairytales to Barbie to Harry Potter and back to Fairytales. She finally put her foot down when she wanted to have the meadow theme. She wanted everything to be mystical and green and flowers and if I didn't hunt soon, I will be forced to give up my man card.

It was like all the women were going crazy in the house and even Emmett started throwing suggestions. It was like that one scene from Friends where Joey has a new roommate and she teaches him about flower arrangements and potpourri.

Well that's what it looked like to me.

I believe Bella found it quite amusing dragging me around the house everywhere and making me witness the whole decoration process. It was like she was glued to my hand, I of course didn't mind being with her but all the talk about decorations was driving me mad.

This is why I am now on my knees pleading for her to let me go hunt and trying to make her at least come with me. At first she didn't want to hear any of it saying how important it is to plan for a birthday but I used my best weapon when I told her she can ride on my back when I run and she herself can go running as fast as she wants. That instantly got her attention.

But boy oh boy it wasn't easy, I might be able to get through to her because of our, closer bond, but we have yet to get through the other women in the house.

'_Bro I'll distract them and then you two run, run and don't look back.'_ Ok yeah Emmett is taking this like it is some sort of mission. I rolled my eyes at my brother but I couldn't help but laugh at him. He has such a carefree way of living, he takes everyday in strides and never once have I heard him complain about what he is.

Ever since Bella came into our lives, I'm beginning to see life Emmett's way. Of course I dial it down a notch or five but nonetheless, I do no longer hate what I am as much as I used to.

We have started taking Bella out with us when we go hunting but she has yet to hunt herself. She told us she isn't ready yet and isn't quite sure of how to do it so she has been watching us. Her face goes into pure concentration when she watches and once again I'm left wishing I could see what goes on inside her head.

"Ok we can go Edward." With a final huff, she squared her shoulders and faced the three women who were currently busy with getting Bella's outfit sorted.

"We're off hunting." Her little voice spoke and the room turned dead silent. All three women turned to face Bella in slow motions and the panicked look on Emmett's face was priceless.

'_Abort mission bro, they are gonna blow!' _ this time I didn't hold in my laughter and I think I gave poor Moo a heart attack because he jumped from his cosy sleeping spot and hissed at me.

I picked Bella up and ran out of the house with the women screaming behind us and Bella laughing at everything that just happened.

I received threats from both Rosalie and Alice, thank god Esme is now finding it funny. Having Esme on our side does make things easier for when we get back.

ooOoo

After draining my third Caribou, I hid away the remains of the animal and began trying to pinpoint where Bella was. She knew the dangers of being too close to us when we hunt so she would usually stand far away from us. It didn't take me long to notice the rustling in the tree right above me and her heartbeat gave her away too.

I heard her giggle as she watched me climb up the tree, once I balanced myself on a sturdy branch, I looked down to the spot where I just fed. This time she was a little too close but surprisingly I didn't even notice.

"When do you think you'll want to try hunting?" I spoke so quietly it was almost a whisper, I didn't want to disrupt the peace that surrounded the woods.

"Soon." Was her only response. Her one worded answers were always a telltale sign to me that something is bothering her.

I pulled on the end of her ponytail and she turned to face me, it looked like she didn't want to smile but she surrendered in the end.

"Come on, out with it little one." She scooted closer to me and looked like she was pondering on how to begin. It was such a grown up thing to do that it really dawned on me that she really is growing up and she will keep growing even faster than she already is after her birthday.

"I'm worried about the vampires coming here. What if they won't like me? What if they don't believe what we tell them? What will happen to me then?" if she was worried about all of this prior to today, I can't say I would have noticed.

She had been so happy to have everyone at home and I can't say I ever saw her looked upset or worried.

"No one is going to hurt you, not one person in our family will let harm come anywhere near you. You don't have to go out of your way to try and impress them Bella, just be who you are and they will love you, like we all do. They have no reason not to trust us, especially Carlisle so they will listen to what we have to say." She looked deep into my eyes and I believe she found what she was looking for because she finally smiled up at me.

"Come on, let's head home, we still have a birthday to organise." I winked at her and then got her to climb onto my back. As soon as she was secured safely on my back, I jumped out of the tree and lightly landed on the ground.

He sweet giggle sent warmth through me and I began running back home with a now very happy little girl.

**AN - Just the one chapter this week guys, I do apologize. It's better than nothing right? :) **


	22. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

"_Esme darling we are looking forward to seeing you all_." I listened to Esme and Carmen talking about their visit that could go all sorts of wrong. Alice kept reassuring me that everything will be fine but only after we explain everything.

How was that supposed to keep me calm?

The Denali's are coming tomorrow, and the house is actually all set for a birthday party. What no one prepared for was the way we were going to introduce them to Bella. So of course Alice is seeing all sorts of outcomes but she is certain that it will all go smoothly.

Yeah, I still don't quite believe that.

Irina's reaction is the one I'm most worried about, she was the one who was closest to her mother, and when her mother turned an infant child into a vampire and got executed for that, it almost killed Irina. Tanya is the other Denali I am not looking forward to seeing, she still believes we are destined to be together and I still think she is delusional.

She is not my mate and neither am I hers. She prefers human men and sees me as the forbidden fruit. She knows I only see her as extended family, but that still doesn't stop her from trying.

I hope that one day she will give up, she's gonna have to.

Kate on the other hand, I can't wait to see. Even though she is a succubi like her sisters, she's the coolest one. She has a talent of mental electrical current from just one touch, something Emmett always asks her to demonstrate on him.

I'm not going to lie, I'm looking forward to Eleazar meeting Bella. I'm eager to know whether he can sense anything from her powers. It may be too early to tell but it wouldn't hurt to ask. I know for a fact I'm not the only one who is curious.

Carlisle has been anxious to see his old friend again, he was sure Eleazar would have heard of hybrids being with the Volturi for a while. I just hoped he would listen to reason before jumping to conclusions.

"Edwarddddddddd, can we play something now?" her little feet stumped down the stairs as she called out to me. Bella had been in Carlisle's study with Jasper for the past five hours. We have started her home schooling and Jasper has taken on teaching her history.

She had insisted on me teacher her music. I would play a tune on the piano or guitar and she would sing the song I am playing, she probably doesn't know it, but her voice is amazing. I couldn't wait to hear her sing when she gets older because her voice will only get more beautiful.

"What do you want to sing today Bella?" I knelt in front of her once she reached me.

"This by Ed Sheeran please, which means you will need your guitar Edward." She clapped as I made my way up the stairs and into my room to collect my acoustic guitar. When I came back downstairs she was already setting up an area for us in the living room. We usually played on the piano but I knew how much she loved it when I played the guitar.

It was like she got lost in the plucked strings and I was determined to teach her how to play one day.

I sat down and tuned my guitar a bit, Bella sat down on the floor in front of me and crossed her legs. She watched me play around a little whilst she gave Moo a bit of attention and as I began playing the first cords of the song she straightened up and began humming and then her beautiful voice sang out.

_**This is start of something beautiful**_

_**This is start of something new**_

_**You are the one who'd make me loose it all**_

_**You are the start of something new, ooh**_

_**And I'll throw it all away**_

_**And watch you fall into my arms again**_

_**And I'll throw it all away**_

_**Watch you fall, now**_

I watched on in amazement as she closed her eyes and started on the next segment of the song.

_**You are the earth that I will stand upon**_

_**You are the words that I will sing**_

_**And I've thrown it all away**_

_**And watched you fall into his arms again**_

_**And I thrown it all away**_

_**Watched you fall, now**_

By now, everyone had gathered in the living room listening to their baby girl sing her heart out. She of course didn't notice anyone was there and carried on singing the song. She wasn't shy or anything, so the rest of the family being there didn't throw her off, but she has mentioned how much she loves getting lost in the music and my guitar/piano playing when it is just us two.

_**And take me back**_

_**Take me home**_

_**Watch me fall **_

_**Down to earth**_

_**Take me back for**_

_**This is start of something beautiful**_

_**You are the start of something new**_

The house broke out into applause and if Bella could, she would definitely be blushing right now. She just giggled at them and then picked Moo up and went into the garden.

Her song choice sometimes reflected on the mood she was in, I couldn't quite figure out what she was feeling this time when picking this song.

Everyone around me replayed her performance in their heads and some even went off doing what they were doing before and hummed the song in their heads. I was in the mood to play with my guitar some more so I stayed on the sofa and played whatever came to mind.

It was dark by the time I stopped and noticed that they were getting Bella ready for bed and she wasn't fighting it this time and even agreed to stay in her bed. I heard her tell Moo that if she went to bed early, tomorrow would come faster which meant presents.

I was surprised I had been so lost in my music that I missed the rest of the day go by.

As everyone wished her a good night and Esme and Carlisle tucked her in and left her room, I put my guitar away and walked into her room. Over the past months she began getting rid some of the baby stuff in her room, it was beginning to look more like a young girls room instead of a toddlers room.

I found Moo curled up by her feet and she looked angelic as she slept. I was surprised at how quickly she had actually fallen asleep, her heartbeat was at a normal human pace, the pace they would have if they were awake. I could seriously listen to it all day, it calmed me to hear her heartbeat, knowing that she is really here, that she is real and not a figment of my imagination.

I can no longer imagine my life without her here. That constant pull towards her was scaring me but I also welcomed it. There was nothing on this earth that would separate me from her.

I kissed her forehead and wished her to have only good dreams before I left her room.


	23. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

'_Uh ohhh' _I wondered what Alice was going on about.

The next thing I heard was a piercing scream from Bella.

We all rushed into her room and found her staring at herself in the mirror. I'm not surprised she screamed. She had a major growth spurt overnight. She now looks eleven years old. But technically she is only one in hybrid years.

She turned towards us and screamed again. Her eyes looked frantic as she stared at me and then at the women in her room.

"Alright boys and Carlisle dear, you need to leave. It's time for some girl bonding." Emmett groaned and the rest of us just blinked, still staring at Bella.

'_She looks beautiful' _Carlisle's thoughts where those of pride and his mind flickered to Charlie's letter. He felt saddened that Charlie wouldn't be able to see his little girl grow up but he couldn't help but think about what the future is going to bring for his baby girl.

We cleared out of her room and Rosalie shut the door behind us and I was attacked with an image of them all bouncing around on the spot around Bella. That vision was too similar to the one Alice had showed me. I focused more on that first vision and looked at Bella's left hand in particular. It was ring-less, which meant their excitement was about something else. I tried to shake off that unsettling feeling and felt Jasper staring at me in confusion.

'_Everything ok Edward?' _ I gave him a tight nod and he didn't question me further.

We were all downstairs when we heard more squealing and then the sound of three vampires bouncing. That must be the vision I saw earlier.

During the night, we all gathered Bella's birthday presents and pilled them on the dining room table. Everything else around the house was set for her birthday and I just realised I haven't wished her a happy birthday.

I was just about to run back upstairs and wish her a happy birthday when the women descended down the stairs.

"She'll be here in a minute, she wanted to make an entrance. Well I wanted her to make an entrance but just wait." Alice beamed up at me and then made her way over to Jasper who wrapped a calming arm around her shoulders to stop her from bouncing.

I heard Bella's heartbeat increase even more as she appeared at the top of the stairs. She wore a pretty dress and had her hair down and she was glowing with excitement.

"Come on Boo, we're getting old here." Emmett's teasing calmed her down a little and then she jumped over the banister and landed in front of us.

We all chuckled at her, well apart from Alice, she looked like she was going to have a heart attack.

"Bella you're in a dress! You can't go jumping over banisters in a dress!" Alice carried on mumbling profanities as she placed her head in her hands and this time, we laughed at Alice who in turn, scowled at us.

"Happy Birthday Bella!" we all said at once and she was then passed around from person to person as we all gave her a hug. She held on to me a little longer and her heartbeat increased further. She looked up at me and I couldn't stop staring.

Yeah she looked eleven but she was still quite short. From the future vision I've seen I know she isn't going to be tall but I still couldn't help but stare.

"Present time" Alice sang out and Bella beamed up at me before letting me go and walking over to the dining room table and grabbing the first present she saw.

Rose got her a few sets of car keys, we all stared wondering what Rose was thinking getting Bella a car and then she explained. Whichever key Bella chose, it will be the key to the car she will get for her seventh birthday. The birthday that will mean she has reached her full maturity. I felt a few of us relax after her explanation and Bella was bouncing with excitement.

After choosing a key that only Rose and Bella knew what car it belongs to, Bella moved to the next present.

It was from Emmett and they were tickets to go to the Amazon. I felt the growl building up in me and then I saw that there were two tickets.

"Thank you Sully! Edward will you come with me?" she turned to me, her eyes beaming with excitement. I simply stood there stunned like an idiot and nodded.

'_You can thank me later bro.' _Emmett winked at me and then picked Bella up and spun her in a circle.

Alice had gotten her clothes, more girly hair things and shoes. Jasper had gotten her books to read and she leapt into his arms and hugged him for a good minute before thanking him profusely.

Carlisle and Esme had given her a charm bracelet with the Cullen crest on it as well as a scrap book so she could start documenting her life.

Carlisle and Esme had both debated about giving her Charlie's letter but once Alice saw their decision, she told them it would end badly because up until now, she believes Carlisle and Esme are her real parents. If she received the letter now, it would hurt and confuse her.

My present was last and I was slightly nervous about it. Her passion for music meant the world to me and the fact that I can share it will her trills me to no end. So when the idea hit me, I knew it would be perfect.

"Open Edward's now!" Alice encouraged Bella. She reached out for it and was about to tear it open when the whole room froze.

"Who the hell is that?!"

**AN - dun dun dunnnnnnn! Surpriseeeeeee the Denali's have arrived. Let's see if they are the Denali's no one likes or a surprise to my version of Denali's :P let me know what you think guys xoxo**


	24. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

As soon as those words left Irina's mouth, Esme was in front of her in an instant.

Everyone else stood in front of Bella, well everyone apart from Rose, Jasper and myself. We were crouched because I could read their vile thoughts whilst Jasper could feel them. Rose was in mother mode as well as Esme.

"How dare you talk to my baby girl like that? You better watch what you say next because they could be your very last words. Do I make myself clear?" I felt the chill run past every person in this house as Esme spoke. The respect they held for Esme was immense and Irina didn't dare talk back to her. That still didn't stop her glaring in Bella's direction.

"Then you better explain my dear Esme." Carmen spoke out.

"I think everyone needs to relax first. Kids, it's alright." Carlisle turned to the three of us who were still crouching as he stood by Esme with a hand on her shoulder to keep her calm. As soon as we stood up straight Bella walked out from behind us.

I was about to reach out and stop her but Alice told me to let her do this.

"Hello, I'm Isabella Cullen, today is my first birthday and I'm a hybrid." She was fiddling with her fingers which were her sign of being nervous. She showed that rarely but Jasper reassured me she was fine.

The minds of our guests were silent but the first thing I got from Irina is guilt.

"I'm so sorry Esme, when I saw h-when I saw Bella, I assumed…" she was then cut off by Rosalie.

"Do you think any one of us would risk such a thing as turning a child, did you forget what happened to your mother when she did that?" it was harsh but it was what everyone in my family was thinking, Rose wasn't one to beat around the bush.

"How dare you bring up our mother into this?" Tanya finally spoke up after trying to figure out why I haven't greeted her yet.

"Prove it." She then sneered and Alice walked over to our photo albums and pulled out Bella's one. She started taking pictures and recording Bella's growth since we brought her home.

Carlisle asked everyone to move into the living room where our guests could sit down and look at the pictures. Kate sat in the middle of them and held the album in her lap, she had a smile on her face the whole time since she stepped foot into the house.

Carmen was concerned whilst Eleazar tried to figure out Bella's power. He was consistent she has one because he picked something up but it was like she was blocking him. Carlisle tried to read his old friend and he couldn't wait to get him alone so he could drill him about what he could pick up or whether he was aware of hybrids.

As they looked through the album everyone else in my family told them of how Bella has become part of our family. They did keep the letter from Charlie quiet because we were just not ready to tell Bella yet.

'_Wow she is absolutely precioso.'_ Carmen thought whilst looking at Bella. Bella sensed she was being watched and as she lifted her head up to see who it was, she couldn't help but smile at Carmen.

"What were you doing when this was taken shorty?" Kate turned the album around so Bella could see what she was talking about.

It was a picture of Bella climbing up a tree and laughing at whatever Emmett was shouting up at her.

"Emmett dared me to chase a squirrel and then told me I looked like a squirrel myself because I'm so small." She chuckled after explaining and then grinned up at Kate.

I don't think she noticed herself, but she was moving closer and closer to our guest whilst speaking. I could still feel tension around her but it was slowly easing down. Even Tanya was intrigued but Irina still felt guilt and she couldn't help but think about her mother.

"Edward I still haven't opened your present!" Bella ran over to the dining room table and lifted the huge box off and brought it over to the living room.

She began tearing into it and when she saw the guitar case she squealed with excitement and then ran up to me and jumped into my arms. I spun her around as she thanked me and then set her down so she could continue opening the present.

The guitar I got her was smaller than mine so she could start playing it soon. She brought it over to me so I could tune it up a bit more and once I gave it back to her, she began playing around a little.

Her eyes glazed over and I knew she was lost in her own little bubble.

And so the talking began.

"I can see how much she has grown in the photos but how is the jump so high in her growth after her first birthday?" Tanya asked.

"That's when her maturity starts developing, at her first birthday she looks eleven, on her second birthday she will look twelve, on her third, thirteen and so on. That's why she stops aging at seven because her maturity will reach its high point. She will look seventeen for the rest of her existence" Alice answered her and I couldn't believe I didn't figure that out earlier. It makes a lot more sense.

Everyone then turned to Bella but she didn't notice us, I couldn't help but smile and our guest couldn't help but notice it.

'_Is she destined for him?'_

'_The way he looks at her, he has never looked at me like that.'_

'_Who are her real parents?'_ Irina asked as she looked at me.

I shook my head at her and darted my eyes to Bella.

"Not here, she doesn't know." I kept it at that and she nodded in understanding.

"What's her diet?" Kate asked.

"Animals, though she hasn't hunted herself yet. She says she's not ready but watches us very carefully." There was surprise on our guests faces when they found out we take her when we go hunting.

I was surprised that they were concerned about Bella's safety and it made me feel calmer that they are accepting her.

"Bella sweetie we need to get you to bed." Esme walked over to Bella and placed her hands on Bella's shoulders. That seemed to get Bella out of her musical trance.

"Edward can we stay in your room?" she asked me and yawned straight after. I laughed and nodded and then kissed her forehead and wished her goodnight.

"We?" Tanya asked whilst lifting one eyebrow at me.

"Bella and her kitten."

And that was the beginning of more questions.


	25. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

"So he just left her? Just like that? You have werewolves in Forks?" Kate had finished reading out Charlie's letter and to say the Denali's were shocked would be an understatement.

"He couldn't give her the life she deserves, how was he to know how to take care of her? He had no choice, his mate was killed and he couldn't live without her. He made a sacrifice that was best for everyone, especially Bella." I didn't want them thinking badly about Charlie, if it wasn't for him, Bella wouldn't be here.

"Has she been around humans?" Eleazar had stayed quiet throughout all of this so it surprised even me when he spoke out.

"Yeah, we went shopping with her, because of her growth, we go through a lot of clothes which I obviously don't mind doing it all online but I wanted her there with me so she could choose for herself. Plus we needed to see if she is comfortable around humans and whether there would be any complications. That's how we got the kitten." Alice beamed at Eleazar and he nodded in response going back to thinking about her power that he's certain she has.

"Will she be going to school?" Carmen wondered.

"Yeah, we want her to at least turn six and well look sixteen before we go back to school. She's now home schooled and even if she is half human, she picks up everything we tell her quickly and is able to store it all like we can. I mean come on, you saw her play the guitar and she's only one." You could notice the pride in Jasper's voice as he spoke about how bright Bella is. He loved teaching her new things and he loved how passionate she is about learning.

"Why doesn't she know about Charlie?" Irina couldn't quite understand why we haven't told her yet.

"It wouldn't end well if we tell her now, I've seen it. She loses trust in us and tries to find vampires to help her kill the wolves. The vampires she finds report to the Volturi about her and they then take her to Italy. Nothing good can come from that. We need to wait a little longer before she can know about Charlie." Alice answered again, at the mention of the Volturi the whole house growled including the Denalis.

"They know of their existence, the hybrids I mean. There were a couple like Charlie and his mate who came to the Volturi for help. The human mate was able to give birth without dying and couldn't look after the offspring, so they gave it away to the Volturi. The brothers were angry that a human knew of them so before they had a chance to leave the castle, they were dead. As for the hybrid, I don't know what happened to him. There were rumours that it was too unknown and no one knew what would happen when the hybrid grows up, so he was killed because he was too much of a risk due to his mind control power. There were also rumours that the hybrid was changed into a full vampire." No one had said a word after Eleazar's input on the Volturi.

To me it still didn't answer the question that's been going through my mind since Rose and Emmett got back. Do the Volturi see hybrids as a threat?

"Is that possible?" Emmett wondered out loud.

"To change a hybrid into a complete vampire? Yeah, it's possible. Because half of said hybrid is human, the change only last a day and a half. The human part is replaced with more venom in the blood stream and because their heartbeats are so fast, the venom is pumped into the heart faster." I was surprised Carlisle to be the one to answer Emmett's question.

What didn't surprise me was that he has been doing more research and has been in contact with some of his old friends. Friends he told me that respected him and wouldn't share the information with anyone else unless Aro got to them.

Moo had made his way downstairs and even let me pick him up whilst I introduced him. I carried him into the kitchen and poured some dry food into his fish shaped bowl and then the screams from my room started.

I hope I didn't hurt Moo when I dropped him but I was the first one in my room with Bella cradled in my arms before anyone else got there.

"Shhhh its ok beautiful, you're safe. I'm right here Bella shhhhhh its ok." Her little body didn't stop shaking and she clung on to me like her life depended on it.

"Are you ready to tell me what happened?" I looked at the people outside my bedroom and told them that I will take care of this and they left us alone.

"Wolves, there were lots of them and they were coming after me. I couldn't run fast enough and you were shouting at me, telling me I had to run and not look back. When I opened my eyes, I thought I saw one of them in here." The whole house had heard her and they were outside in a heartbeat trying to find a scent of a mutt.

"They will never come near you. You will never be alone I promise." I held her even closer to me and gently rocked her back and forth till she fell asleep again.

Emmett told me he picked up a scent and the men were running after it. It was unbelievably hard to hold my anger in as I held Bella in my arms. I was ready to tear the whole place apart and find out who was in my room. I was conflicted because I didn't want to leave Bella even though Esme is currently telling me she will stay with Bella.

How dare they come into our house?!

How dare they be on our grounds?!

How dare they be in my room?!

How had no one seen this?


	26. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

Anger.

Anger was the one emotion I was too familiar with.

Anger came easy to me.

Anger is the only thing I felt as my family came back empty handed.

Did I expect them to come back with the mutts head in their hands?

Yes I did.

However, that wasn't what my family was about, they wouldn't take revenge like that, well the majority of them wouldn't.

But this is out of hand, the stupid dogs were in my room, watching Bella sleep. They broke our treaty and this should be resolved.

'_Edward killing them isn't going to solve this, it wouldn't end well and you would leave Bella heartbroken because you wouldn't survive this.' _Alice's thoughts rang loud and clear in my head as I held Bella whilst she slept. They all tried to tell me I should leave her be and go hunt, that she will be fine.

The house was full of vampires, and they got in here! How on earth was she supposed to be fine?

I was probably going to feel bad about letting my family know that later but right now I couldn't care less. The most important thing in my life was asleep in my arms and that was all I cared about.

I knew she will be waking up soon because she never spent the whole night sleeping anymore. The hours got shorter and shorter and I knew that it wouldn't be long before she didn't need sleep at all. That both worried and excited me, it worried me because she was growing too quickly but it excited me because I will be able to spend more time with her and she will also have more time learning new things she has yet to learn.

I heard Jasper pacing downstairs, he was angry with himself and worried about Bella. Jasper and I both shared the same anger because I too was angry at myself for not hearing anything and not being able to hunt the dogs down.

To him, Bella was like a true sister. The two of them share a bond on a level that the rest of us don't, yes she loves each one of us differently but she looks to him like he's her mentor. I admire that about her because she goes to all of us for different reasons but I can sense how much she loves spending time with Jasper.

She stirred in my arms and I looked down in time to see her eyes open and the smile that greeted me made me forget about what had happened a second ago.

"Morning Edward."

"Morning Bella." I kissed the top of her head and she giggled before climbing out of bed.

"Alice will you-" before Bella could finish what she was saying Alice was already rummaging through her closet looking for an outfit to suit Bella's desired activity for today. She was blocking her thoughts from me so I was intrigued to see what Bella has planned.

She walked out wearing skinny jeans and a hoody she had begged Alice to let her buy. She then put on her sneakers and motioned for me to follow her downstairs.

"I want to spend the day with the boys. Daddy you can come too but don't forget mommy wanted you to help her organise the fundraiser for kids in hospitals." We all laughed at Esme's smirking face and Carlisle's slumping shoulders.

"Alice we can have a girly day tomorrow and after that Rosie we can go car window shopping." The rest of the house gaped at her whilst Rose smirked at us, even Alice was surprised and nothing surprises Alice these days.

"Come on lets go already. Wait, what are we doing?" Emmett looked as baffled as the rest of us did.

"I'm ready to go hunting." That did it. The whole house erupted into discussion about the fact that all of us should be going to help our youngest member learn to hunt.

"I want to go with the boys!" she shouted above us all and the house went silent. Jasper walked over to a frustrated Bella and she couldn't help but smile up at him and I didn't know whether it was Jasper's doing or if she was just happy someone was listening.

She put her arms up and he lifted her up

"Drinking from your big girl cup are we?" he teased her and she flicked him on the forehead and rolled her eyes but then nodded nonetheless.

We all laughed at their sibling antics and I noticed Emmett rubbing his hands together which was something he did when an idea came to him. He did that quite a lot but most of his ideas were stupid.

Like this one.

"How would you like to hunt bears Boo?"

A chorus of "NO!" rang through the house and it shook the windows a little.

It didn't faze Bella as she just giggled and winked at her big oaf of a brother. I shook my head at the idea of her taking on a bear and I felt her gaze on me. When I looked at Bella her eyebrows were knitted together and she looked confused and frustrated at the same time.

'_Why am I getting the feeling from her like she disappointed you?´ _ Jasper glared at me and I stood there stunned for a second.

"Come here beautiful." I was a moron for whatever it is that I done,

Bella jumped out of Jasper's arms and gracefully walked over to me. Even Moo stopped grooming himself as he watched Bella cross the room over to me.

"If you keep pulling your face, it will stick like that forever you know." I tried to joke to get her to at least smile at me.

It looks like I screwed up, big time.

"You don't want me to go hunting." She simply stated and for a moment I wondered where she got that idea from.

"Of course I want you to go hunting! Why would you think I didn't?" she looked down at her sneakers and kicked an invisible pebble and all the girls in the house wanted to rush over to Bella and hug her. I just rolled my eyes at them which earned me a scowl from all three.

"You were shaking your head the whole time we talked about it. You read minds Edward but sometimes you're so clueless." She huffed at me and it made others laugh and agree with her.

"I was only shaking my head at the idea that you're growing up so quickly. It feels like it was only days away when we watched you climb on top of the kitchen counter to get your own sippy cup. Now, now you're ready to go hunting and the fact that the buffoon over there suggested bears doesn't faze you." She looked up at me and the twinkle in her eyes was back.

"So you'll come with me?" she asked and gave me the pout which Alice helped her perfect.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world."


	27. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

I stilled and inhaled the air around us. It was human free because we were so far out in the woods that no one would dare come out this far.

It was perfect.

"Ok now close your eyes." Bella did what I asked and closed her eyes gently. I could see a smile trying to creep through because she probably thought this was silly.

This is far from silly.

"This is your Vampire Hunting 101. Concentrate young Jedi you must."

I tried really hard not to laugh at Bella's confused face at Emmett being Yoda. Jasper's shoulders shook with his silent laughter but it was far from silent in his mind. If he could, he would be on the floor laughing.

"What are you-" I shook my head and she didn't say another word.

"Concentrate Bella, this is important." She quickly sobered up and closed her eyes again.

"Ok good girl, now take a deep breath and tell me what you smell." We all stilled as Bella did just that and waited for her response.

"I can smell the new blossoms sixty yards from here. There are some wild strawberries just down that buried sidewalk to your left. There are blueberries to your right and more further down your left Edward." She was doing brilliantly I was just waiting for her to tell me the one thing that mattered now.

"And then there's the smell of a mountain lion about a mile away up in a tree." BINGO!

"You're fine with her hunting mountain lions but not bears?! That's unfair dude!" Emmett whined and even stomped his foot just to hear Bella laugh. He winked at her and she winked back but inhaled again and licked her lips.

Before any one of us could say a word she was gone. I heard her tinkling laughter as she ran circles around us and then went south, the opposite direction of the mountain lion.

This peeked my curiosity and when I looked at my brothers they simply shrugged their shoulders and followed after her.

A second later I smelled the deer and knew why she chose this path instead. She was smarter than the rest of us that was for sure.

We stopped running and watched her crouch down and stalk her prey. To be honest it made me feel uneasy. She is so young yet she looks like she has done this a thousand of times.

Bella crept in closer to the deer and as soon as the deer sensed her and made a run for it, Bella was on its back and her teeth sunk into the animal's neck. If I wasn't so stunned at the sight of Bella hunting I would have clapped like my brothers are doing right now.

She didn't pay us any attention and continued drinking. I wanted to pick her up and twirl her around and tell her how proud I am of her. I think it was evident in all of us at how proud we were of Bella.

After draining the deer she stepped away from it with her eyes wide, she then looked at us and the sparkle in her eyes was as bright as ever. I could see her wanting to do a happy dance but she composed herself and walked over to us.

"So how did I do?"

"You were amazing Bella, vampires are not as graceful on their first hunt as you were! And that's saying something, it took me three years to be as graceful on my hunt as you are. That was quick and sharp. It was perfect." I smiled down at her and then got down to her level, she ran into my waiting arms and hugged me back tightly.

"How's your thirst? Do you need more?" Jasper asked as he smiled down at her.

"No I'm good, that deer was pretty big. I feel bloated." She puffed her cheeks out and it made us laugh.

"Come on let's get back so we can tell the others how much of a chicken you are." Emmett teased her and then ran off. Bella stared in the direction he ran and then shook her head, gave me a kiss on the cheek and ran after him.

"I WASN'T A CHICKEN EMMETT! YOU'RE THE CHICKEN RUNNING AWAY FROM A ONE YEAR OLD!"

It took one look between Jasper and I and we burst out laughing because we could still hear her mumbling something to Emmett as she chased after him.

"Couldn't be further from the truth." I sobered up before Jasper did and ran back the direction we came from.

"Come on Jaz, we need to see how this ends."

We ran back to the house in no time, Carlisle was bitching about having to organise this fundraiser but it was all in his thoughts and he even threatened me not to say a word to Esme. I simply pointed at him and laughed which got me in trouble by my mother and the rest of them snickered at me when they heard 'The Golden Child' getting told off.

I don't know how much longer they will keep referring to me as that. I was no longer their baby, I've been replaced by Bella and I couldn't be happier about it.

"So how was your hunt baby girl?"

"It was really good, Edward said I done amazing and that my skills are incredible. Did you know it took him three years to look graceful when he hunted? I can't imagine that being true, I've watched Edward hunt and it's beautiful to watch." He voice got quieter as she spoke and if she could, she would be blushing, I was sure of it.

Rosalie brushed Bella's hair back and kissed her temple whilst looking at me.

"Edward was very…. messy when it came to hunting." Carlisle poked his head out and smirked at me as I pinched the bridge on my nose, I hated this story.

"Yes yes let's all have a dig at Edward and his hunting skills shall we?" I raised my eyebrow at dad and he giggled like a little girl and went back to doing whatever he was doing before.

"Bella here had the option of draining down a mountain lion, but instead she chose to feast on Bambi." Emmett smirked at Bella and she gasped.

"Emmett you idiot!" rang through the house and Bella's eyes watered.

"I killed Bambi!" she shouted and darted up to her room.

We heard the door slam and it made Emmett flinch.

He must have forgotten vampires don't flinch.

"Boo I didn't mean it!" his heavy footsteps stomped up the stairs as he made his way to her room.

We all waited for Bella to open her door but it stayed shut.

We left them to it, they always worked it out eventually.

**AN – Hellooooooo allll :D yes I know I suck for taking so long to write this and I deserve everything you throw at me but I've been…on a major writers block shizznit **** andddd I've been trying to work out what I want to do with my life.**

**I recently attended a session which included this guy talking about writing books for Amazon Kindle. It instantly peeked my interest and I already have ideas about what I want to write :D it would be amazing to know people would be buying my book.**

**I'm working on a blog at the moment so that people could visit it and get an idea about what my book will be about. I also intend to share it on here so I could see what you guys think and whether you see it as something that would interest people **

**More on that the next time I write. I hope you enjoy these chapters xo**


	28. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

It was early hours of the morning when Bella finally opened her door and let Emmett in and accepted his apology. I know I wasn't the only one who noticed that she hasn't slept yet and we even listened to Emmett suggest she go to sleep but she told him she wasn't tired and wanted to keep playing games with him.

They are both currently dressing Moo up in little kitty clothing and taking pictures of him. She is apparently keeping a scrapbook of his growth, just like we're doing with her.

I tried to come up with things to do whilst Bella was occupied and even considered helping Esme and Carlisle which caused Alice to giggle at whatever outcome came from it, I immediately changed my mind.

I then thought about seeing what Alice was up to but as soon as I saw Christmas trees, yes trees indicating more than one, I changed my mind once again.

"Why don't you go see what Rosalie is up to brother." Alice said out loud, conversation around the house stopped momentarily and I found that quite odd.

I shrugged the atmosphere around the house off and walked to the garage where Rose was under Emmett's Jeep's hood.

"Need a hand Rose?"

"Yeah, can you lift the right side of this car for me?" usually Emm was her car jack but she knew he was busy with Bella and until now, she held the car up with her leg whilst her hands where busy with the engine.

'_I think she's in love with you already.'_

I didn't quite know what to say to that. I was glad she didn't say it out loud.

"Does that bother you?" there was hardly any emotion behind her thoughts and I wondered whether Bella loving me was something that bothered Rose.

'_I wouldn't say it bothers me but I just thought she would live a little you know. She doesn't know anything apart from this family and this house and the Denalis.'_

"So you saying I'm not good enough. That she might change her mind? You do know how mating works don't you?!" I knew my voice was getting louder with every word I spoke but she had no right saying I wasn't good enough for Bella.

'_Will you keep it down?! I didn't say you aren't good enough but don't you think she should have the option of having a choice? Everyone is already set on you two being together when Bella grows up and they all refuse to see it differently. I just want her to have a choice.' _All these odd glances at me are finally making sense, at first I thought it was because she thought I was taking Bella away from her but I now see what this was really about.

"Everyone might be set on thinking that but would it be so wrong if it does happen? She's better of being with me than anyone else on this godforsaken planet. I would always keep her safe, always love her. When the time comes, we will just have to let her decide what she wants and it will only be her choice." I made sure my point was clear and that Rosalie has no right to interfere with Bella's choices.

'_You think I don't know that you would keep her safe? I know a mere human can't protect her like you can, but that's the thing, she is half human and could live a normal life and not have to put up with the charade of acting human like we do.'_

"Did you suddenly forget she stops aging, you want her to attach to someone who will eventually get old and die and then have her go through the pain of losing someone like that?" I could suddenly see where this is going.

After all these years, Rosalie is still unhappy with her life. She has a mate who worships the ground she walks on and would do anything for her yet she needs more. Rosalie Hale always needs more.

'_No I didn't forget the fact she doesn't age. You can't strip her away from her choices though, especially when she has the gift to adapt with a normal life.'_

"You can't live through her Rose, it's about time you realised that." As if Emmett could sense where this conversation was going, he appeared at the door and gave me a timid smile before taking over and holding the car for her.

"Hey Ed, Bella wants you to read to her and Moo. I can help Rosie now." He lifted the car up over his head so he could see Rose and gave her his sweetest smile which she hesitantly returned.

I nodded once at him and made my way back inside the house and up to Bella's room.

'_You alright son?' _both Esme and Carlisle asked me.

"I'm fine." I couldn't understand why they thought I couldn't take what Rosalie dished out. It wouldn't be the first time.

'_She's wrong Edward, you know she is and she's just worried deep down.__ You've seen what I have, she hasn't, you know Bella will always choose you. __' _Alice tried to console me but I didn't need to hear it from Alice, I needed to hear it from Bella.

When I walked into her room, she was in front of her bookshelf with a thoughtful look on her face and Moo perched up on her shoulder.

"He looks like a parrot." I walked over to Bella and picked Moo up. He didn't look too pleased at me for removing him from her but I just smirked at him and placed him on top of Bella's bed.

I sat down in her rocking chair and watched her pick out the book she wanted me to read to her.

Bella padded over to me and sat on my lap whilst I took the book off her.

It didn't come as a shock to me when I saw the book title.

Harry Potter it is then.


	29. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

"Why were you and Rose arguing?" I had finished reading to her and Moo an hour ago, we had sat rocking quietly for a while now.

It would have taken me less than an hour to finish reading it but Bella had a lot of questions for once, she would usually just let me read the whole book first and then ask questions.

"We weren't arguing Bella, we just had a disagreement on something."

"If you have a disagreement with someone and one person raises their voice it counts as an argument." There were a few chuckles throughout the house and Jasper's was the loudest.

"When did you get so smart?"

"Blame Pops and Jazz. Stop avoiding my question." She had stopped drawing patterns on my forearm and looked up at me.

"That was a rhetorical question." She looked at me like I was crazy and I was about to explain to her what rhetorical means but she shushed me.

"I'm not a baby anymore Edward." I could see that I had upset her and it made me feel like an idiot once again. I seem to be feeling like that quite a lot when I'm around her.

"I'm sorry, I know you're not a baby anymore but I don't think you'll fully understand yet what we were disagreeing on." I kept watching her reaction as those words left my mouth and what I saw didn't please me one bit.

"Then why don't you explain it to me? We've got all night and day if you think it will take that long." She folded her arms and glared at me. This was not going to end well.

'_You're in trouble now Edward.' _Was the only thing Jasper thought. Through Jasper I knew she was genuinely angry and upset with me.

How do you tell a young girl about having a mate and not scare her?

"Well you know how most of the house has mated?" I waited for some sort of response from her and when she nodded, I carried on.

"Rose thinks that you should have options, she thinks you should try living a more human life and be with someone who might be human too." How could my mind go completely blank when the only thing I really wanted to tell her was that she is destined to be with me.

Her eyebrows knitted together and she looked past me and through her window out into the early morning.

"I don't understand, there are risks of me being with a human, I know that much. Why would Rosalie think like that when she knows…..when she knows the dangers of it?" I felt like that wasn't what Bella wanted to say and it made me think back to what Rosalie said to me about Bella being in love with me already.

To an outsider she looks like a young eleven year old, but before my eyes I can see her growing. In front of me, I see a young beautiful girl who already has a mind of a grown up.

"That's what I told her. That's where our disagreement lies, no one will stop you from wanting to have your own choices but I don't want you to be with a human because they will eventually grow old and you wouldn't, they would then die and you wouldn't but if you had that sort of attachment with them, you would get hurt. The last thing I want to see is you getting hurt." I kissed her forehead but she still felt tense to me.

"If you don't want me to be with a human then who do you want me to be with?" she asked me through gritted teeth and I flinched from the way it sounded.

'_Edward don't!' _was Alice's warning. But I was tired of listening to everyone else, this was between Bella and I.

"Someone who's like you."

"Like me?! Edward I'm not like you or anyone else in this family! I'm not normal!" in a flash she was off my lap and jumped out from her window.

I stood by the window in an instant and saw her run into the woods in a speed I didn't know she could run. It was almost as fast as mine.

"Let her go son. She needs her space right now, she'll come back." Carlisle placed his hand on my shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.

'_Call me when she comes back, the hospital called and I need to cover for one of the doctors. She might look like she's too young but you know that her soul is older. You did the right thing telling her, even if it wasn't the whole truth.' _He left Bella's room and walked into his bedroom to say bye to Esme.

Maybe Carlisle was wrong, maybe I shouldn't have told her what I had. She would still be here if I didn't tell her what that stupid argument was about.

'_The outcome would have been the same Edward, she would have still ran away because she would know you were lying to her. She knows you better than you know yourself, or any of us for that matter. You two are destined to be together, hold on to that belief big brother." _I wasn't sure whether I wanted to listen to Alice but she's the only person in this house who truly knew everything. She never tells me what Bella thinks or what she sees in Bella's future but she shows me what she sees in mine. From day one she saw us together.

'_Now look what you did! You made her run away and god knows where she is now!__'_ I heard Rose drop her wrench and Emmett was trying to convince her to let Bella be alone for a while.

I knew where Bella was though. I have a very good idea where she is because it's the place I'd go to if I wanted to be alone.

I was having a very hard time just being here and not running after her. It kills me knowing that she feels different from the rest of us. Yes she's unique but that's what makes her more special than the rest of us.

Emmett simply saw it as her throwing her first tantrum and that when she hits puberty it's only going to get worse.

However, the second Jasper's thoughts turned to the wolves my mind went blank and I felt physical pain and fear.

I didn't even wait for anyone else, I was out through her window in a flash and I ran as fast as I could to the meadow. Her scent was still strong and easy to follow, but I didn't need to follow her scent to get to the one place that was special to us.

My mind went through all sort of outrageous scenarios of what I'll find when I get there. The closer I got to the meadow the more my fear kicked in.

Only then did I realise that it wasn't just my fear, it was Bella's too.

A feral growl ripped through me as I cut through the forest and into the clearing.

My dead heart felt like it was going to jump out of my chest at the sight before me.


	30. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

Paul, the wolf whose name I didn't give a damn about was crouching in front of Bella like he was to attack her.

I was in front of Bella in an instant and the dog froze when he saw me but continued to snarl at us. What bothered me was that his eyes were glued to Bella.

"Bella run!" to my own ears I sounded deadly, I didn't even want to think about the way I sounded to her.

There was nothing calm about this situation, this dog had been in our house, I could see it in his thoughts and he's the one that got away from my family. Like a coward he ran to his treaty line and off ours, knowing that we wouldn't cross it. Apparently only one other wolf knows he had crossed the treaty line then like he has now.

This is our land and he has absolutely no right to be here and to be honest, I wasn't in the mood to be civil.

"Are you that dumb to forget you're on our land dog?" I spat the words out through gritted teeth and it made the mongrel angrier but his eyes stayed on Bella.

Bella.

I didn't understand why she was still here, I felt her fear rolling off of her and I didn't understand why she didn't run when I told her to.

"If you want to keep your eyes then I suggest you stop looking at her." his eyes flicked to me and I was hit with more than just his thoughts.

It feels like I can hear the whole pack now and one voice stood out the most because it was the loudest. I had no doubt it was the alpha.

It wasn't long before the rest of the dogs made themselves known as they stepped out from the edge of the forest.

A second later Jasper, Emmett and Esme ran to our side and took a protective stance in front of Bella who hadn't taken her eyes off the wolf since I got here.

"You know the rules Paul, and don't think I don't know about your late night visits either. We have a treaty for a reason. We made a deal with the Cul-" The alpha stopped talking when he registered Bella.

He noticed her vampire side but couldn't figure out the heartbeat. He saw the resemblance instantly and I was met with the image of whom I believe to be Charlie.

She shared some of his features, I was then assaulted with the image of him being torn apart.

"Who's that?!" the dog demanded.

"None of your business. Why the fuck was he in our house?!" I heard both Esme and Bella gasp as the word left my mouth but right now I really didn't care.

"Edward sweetheart, I'm sure we can be civil about this." Esme gave me a stern look and her eyes then flicked to Bella who looked angry. I focused on Jasper who confirmed her emotions.

Paul carried on snarling at me and I was beginning to lose my patients with him.

I then heard a growl escape from someone I didn't expect.

Bella's growl sounded menacing and it didn't sound like something that would come out from a child.

"He asked you a question!" tiny fists were clenched by her side and the anger was rolling off of her.

Emmett was beaming from the inside, proud of his baby sister. On the outside, he was assessing the situation in front of him wearing a small smirk on his face.

Esme wanted to wrap her arms around Bella but Bella stepped closer to me whilst some of the wolves laughed at her anger.

The alpha, Jacob, who was the only one in human form tried hard not to laugh and Bella saw it.

All of a sudden Jacob's body was flung up in the air and crashed against the nearest tree. He was back in wolf form when he landed and now the whole pack was ready to attack.

'_STAND DOWN!' _his voice, once again rang out the loudest. I saw some of the dogs flinch from it whilst others refused to listen.

'_I. Said. Stand. Down!' _ the rest soon followed through whilst my family stood ground. Bella was breathing heavily but looked calm as if nothing happened.

I was amazed yet worried at the same time.

"He crossed the treaty line, on several occasions now. We have respected your wishes and haven't stepped foot on your land for centuries, since the treaty was made actually. We have the right to know what one of your men were doing on our grounds, and in our house especially." At this moment, Esme stood in Carlisle's shoes and controlled the situation more calmly than I had.

Jacob ran back into the forest and shifted back to his human form.

"We have the right to know what she is." He pointed at Bella and I heard a growl start to rumble within her.

I put my arm around her and she relaxed instantly.

'_Keep touching her Edward, it's keeping her calm.' _Even without Jasper's input I would have carried on touching her because I needed to feel her next to me as much as she needed me.

"You first." Emmett spoke for the first time, the same smirk plastered on his face only this time it was bigger.

"I don't babysit my pack, they are free to do whatever they want. All I knew was that Paul had crossed the treaty line and was, like you said, in your house. I don't know why." It was a blatant lie but he didn't need to know that both Jasper and I knew.

Emmett was coughing bullshit whilst Esme glared at him this time and Bella looked like she was about to pass out.

Before her body hit the ground, I caught her in my arms and passed her over to Esme who took Bella to the side and whispered to her whilst stroking her hair. I saw Bella nod once and then she was out like a light. Just like that, her heartbeat slowed down as well as her breathing. Esme gently rocked her back and forth whilst humming at the same time.

"She's one of us obviously. I want to know what his obsession is with her?" Jasper didn't even look fazed by the situation in front of him and even went as far as picking his nails as if this was wasting his time. The pack weren't too pleased with that which made me smile because I was so ready for a fight.

'_I want to finish off what we started of course.' _I couldn't stop the snarl that escaped from me and that made the mongrel's head turn to me.

"The dog wants to finish what they started." I told my brothers who didn't take the news lightly.

"You touch a hair on her body and that will be the last thing you will ever do."

I've never been so happy to see Carlisle before.


	31. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

'_You ok son?'_ he once again placed his hand on my shoulder and when I nodded in response he rushed over to Esme who still held Bella in her arms.

Carlisle gently stroked Bella's head and she slowly opened her eyes.

"Daddy!"

Bella leapt out of Esme's arms and straight into Carlisle's. He picked her up and held her closely whilst he walked back to face the wolves. Her arms were wrapped tightly around his neck and her face buried into the crook of his neck. He was gently murmuring something to her in Latin, but even to my ears it wasn't loud enough for me to make out.

My dead heart broke at the sight of them and it was all because of the wolves.

"She calls you dad?" Jacob sneered.

"Don't you dare speak another word about her!" I don't think I have ever seen Esme as angry as she was right now. Yeah Emmett had caused a lot of damage throughout the years but she has never been this angry before.

I wanted to laugh at the sight of this Jacob flinch away from Esme. He took a timid step back, standing within his pack he squared his shoulders and spoke.

"How about we forget about this? Paul will be punished and won't cross the treaty line if he has no reason to. If she's a danger to the humans you swore you don't feed on then I'm not going to stop one of my brother's from doing his job. This isn't the last time we're going to meet, I'm somehow sure of that." His eyes flickered back to Bella who refused to look in their direction and kept her eyes on me.

"She's not a threat to humans, I'm sure you can hear her heartbeat and she knows the rules and the dangers if humans were to know about us. However, if you're not going to stop breaking the treaty then we have no other choice but take action, just like you wanted to. We don't want unnecessary blood on our hands Jacob Black."

With one single nod from the alpha, the pack turned around and ran back into the forest. Jacob walked backwards toward the edge of the forest, his eyes still on Bella and it didn't sit well with me. I growled low and he glared at me before shifting and running after his pack.

Jasper's eyes followed the direction they left and his eyebrows were knitted together as he tried to figure out their obsession with Bella.

"This really isn't the last time we'll see them is it?" Emmett was playing with a strand of Bella's hair as she continued to look at me.

"No it's not. They don't believe that Bella is harmless, especially after what she did to him." I raised my eyebrow at her and she did the same to me.

"What do you mean after what she did to him?" Carlisle moved his head back so he could look at Bella but she avoided his gaze.

"Bella Bean picked the dog up and threw him across the meadow and his ass hit the tree. It was the best thing I've ever seen!" Emmett held his fist out but Bella slowly shook her head at him and he looked genuinely disappointed.

"You picked him up? You let her go near him?!" he was shouting at me now and I was stunned into silence.

"I didn't pick him up with my own hands daddy, I sort of thought about doing that and then it happened. I was angry, I couldn't control it. I'm sorry if it caused trouble, I didn't mean it to, I promise." She sounded so tired and defeated and all I wanted to do was wrap her in my arms and hold her close, make her forget about this night.

"We'll talk about this later little one. You three, go back home and tell the girls everything that happened. I'm sure Alice is going crazy because she can't see anything. Esme, Bella and I are going to spend some time together. We won't be long, now go." And just like that, we were dismissed.

Emm and Jazz both kissed Bella on the forehead but when I came to do the same, she didn't look at me but told me she needs to talk to me when they get back.

I don't know how that made me feel, it felt like she is still angry with me and still hurting from earlier. All I could do was nod as I turned and ran back to the house with my brothers.

I was grateful for the fact that their thoughts were silent. They kept glancing back at me as I ran at my slowest pace but I couldn't meet their gazes. My head was filled with rage and emotions I couldn't even put a name to.

"You guys go ahead and tell the girls what happened, I'm going to hunt." I didn't wait for their response as I changed direction and ran deeper into the forest.

ooOoo

As soon as my right foot stepped into the house I was attacked by a small person. She jumped up and I caught her in my arms, she squeezed me as hard as she had Carlisle in the meadow and I was surprised he didn't wince from her strength.

"I could kill you Edward Anthony Masen Cullen!" what did I do now?

"You were supposed to be here when I got back remember! You were gone and I didn't know what to think, I thought I drove you away. I'm sorry for the way I acted in the meadow, I'm sorry I didn't listen to you when you told me to leave, I'm sorry I attacked that man!" she took a huge breath in and let it out slowly after she finished shouting at me.

I waited for her heart rate to slightly slow down because it was beating faster than it did normally. She kept searching for something in my eyes but I don't think she found it because she huffed at me and then pounded her fists into my chest.

"Will you stop apologizing? And stop hitting me." I couldn't help but laugh at her frustrated face but what made me even happier than finally holding her in my arms was the fact that she was trying hard not to smile.

"You came."

"Of course I came."

"But how did you know?"

"I just knew you needed me."

"I'll always need you."

**AN- didn't want to leave you guys hanging on the edge of that cliffy for too long ;) **

**I will try my best to get the next two chapters in just before Christmas as it's going to get quite hectic in my RL **

**I hope you enjoy these chapters as much as I enjoyed writing them!**

**xo**


	32. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

Bella was spending the day with Alice like she promised her she would. They were currently doing each other's nails, whatever that meant. All I knew was that I shouldn't disturb them. I believe that later today she will be going out with Rosalie to look at her possible car. I was itching to tag along but I knew she wanted to spend some time with her sisters after she had taken us guys to hunt.

The conversation we had after I got home still lingered in my head. We had gone up to my room because I was hoping she would finally go to sleep and she always slept peacefully in my room. However, my hopes went out the window because we spent the majority of the night talking.

Bella apologised for freaking out and leaving like that, but she also told me that my comment had hurt her. She didn't understand what I wanted for her and I had to reassure her that all I wanted for her was to be happy. There were moments where she went quiet and shy and I was dying to know what was going on inside her head because she wouldn't even look at me.

She then asked me something unexpected.

Something that I couldn't stop thinking about.

Something that has been playing on my mind the whole day with visions of what Alice had showed me.

Bella and I were lying in my bed on our backs, just staring at the ceiling and then she asked me whether I'd wait for her. At first I wasn't quite sure what she meant but she just asked me to just answer the question.

The only answer I could give her was yes.

I had been telling myself how she is growing up too fast and how I want her to slow down, but to be fair, I've been lying to myself. Maybe it's because I'm selfish or maybe it's because I just couldn't wait to see the young woman she will grow up to be, but I just wish time would hurry up now.

She had then picked up my hand and played with my fingers whilst we continued to lay there. I was burning to ask her a question that most of the house wanted to know.

When I asked her what happened in the meadow she froze for a second. I felt her panic a little but then she took a deep breath and told me that she's been feeling strange lately, like something was inside her and trying to creep out. Bella said she feels this urge of emotion and that whatever she wishes to do, it happens. She then admitted that when we were out hunting with her the first time, she wished that her first hunt would go well so she could make us proud and that she did.

The entire house was listening to our last conversation and there was a collective sigh of relief at her answer. My family had questions but they didn't want to disturb us. Bella didn't elaborate any further either so I left it. When she was ready, I knew she would come to one of us eventually.

It was strange to think but I was missing the dynamic of school. Teaching Bella has made me realise how much I miss doing the normal teenage façade and going to school. I am excited for the day to come when Bella will be joining us. I know that not everyone in the house wants to go to school but they will anyway just to share the experience with Bella.

Alice was keeping her mind closed from which only peeked my curiosity further because her and Bella were discussing something and she was hiding it from me.

I let it go for the moment and sat down on my piano and just let my fingers work. I didn't have to think about what song to play, as soon as my fingers touch the ivory keys, they take over. I remember the first time I got my piano, I was in my last years as a new born and managing my strength – wasn't one of my strengths – so Esme and Carlisle decided to get me a piano and I wasn't to break or crack any of the keys. And it had surprisingly worked.

I was determined to get it right and my love for the instrument helped me a lot. To show my gratitude for their support, especially Esme's, my first composed song was for her.

My fingers changed course and the melody of Esme's song rang out through the house.

'_Thank you sweetheart.'_

"My pleasure mom."

'_I wonder….play…..my..song'_ a thought hit me I had never heard before. The voice was so gentle and calm but it wasn't clear and I only got snippets off it. It definitely didn't belong to anyone in the house.

'_You ok Ed?' _Jasper asked me when he must have sensed my shock.

I wasn't sure how to answer him and he could now sense my confusion as he paused the video game he and Emmett where playing and walked over to where I was sitting.

I carried on playing the piano but tried my best to listen out for the voice again, but I was met with silence.

The wind chime like voice never spoke again and yet here I was, desperate to hear it again with a very confused Jasper staring at me and a pissed off Emmett glaring at the two of us for disturbing his game.


	33. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

The house was frantic with activity as we were getting ready for Christmas. For as long as I can remember, Carlisle has a tradition of only decorating the tree on Christmas Eve. It was some religious tradition but even though we were not a religious family, we still followed Carlisle's rule.

So here we are, on Christmas Eve, decorating the whole house. Well us guys are whilst the girls boss us around. It's not like they can't do it, they just choose not to get dirty as Alice kindly put it.

Seeing how happy this made Bella, made it all ok for me to be bossed around by her. I would do anything for her and I think she finally knows now.

Over the past few weeks we have been testing out her power to see the lengths it goes to and it's pretty incredible. We didn't ask her to do anything that might cause her or others harm but to see her wish for a tree to fall and then seeing it being done without anything touching it was impressive to watch.

But there was one problem everyone feared, if passing Nomads happen to see it, we could all be in danger of the Volturi finding out. Bella had sworn to only use it when it was necessary and not for simple amusements that Emmett kept begging to see.

Bella is aware of how serious it is if the Volturi brothers were to find out about her. She also knows that the Volturi were not our only threat. Yeah the wolves had witnessed what she could do but they still don't know her full strength or the full length of her power.

I don't think any one of us know her full power.

For all we know, it could progress into something bigger as she grows older; which she hasn't stopped since her first birthday.

Her behaviour and looks have nothing to do with her age anymore; it is simply becoming a number. She is growing and maturing every day and Carlisle is still documenting her growth. Although we found out everything we could possibly know about hybrids, it still came as a shock to us to actually see it all progress.

"Edward dear play us some Christmas carols please." Esme's request got an approval from the whole house and who was I to say no to her.

I sat down on the bench and opened to lid to my piano which was decorated with tinsel. To me it looked silly but watching Bella decorate my most favourite possession with such care made me ignore the fact it was decorated.

When _Silent Night _rang through the house I was brought back to the memory of hearing that though I heard the last time I played. I still have no idea who it belonged to because I haven't heard it since.

When I told Emmett and Jasper about it they thought I was going crazy, Alice wasn't any help either because the only people at home were the family. She didn't say it, but Alice too thought I might be going crazy.

I'm not quite sure why but I didn't rule out Bella and that mind I heard. It could be possible that it's hers and it's the way it would sound once she's reached her full age.

I was dying to test it out but I didn't want her to feel pressured with the whole family being here.

"Bella, think of something in your mind." The words left my mouth before I even thought about it.

She looked at me like I was crazy and so did the whole family for that matter.

I ignored them and focused on Bella only.

"What do you want me to say Edward? You know you can't hear my thoughts." She still looked sceptically at me.

"Think of a song you want me to play. Trust me."

I was getting excited about the mere idea of being able to hear Bella's thoughts and I just prayed to god I was right.

"See nothing, I just asked you to play _Jingle Bells_." Her sympathetic smile made me more determined to ask her just once, but this time differently.

"Really wish for it Bella, really wish for me to be able to hear your thoughts. Use your power beautiful." Everyone gasped in understanding and looked from me to Bella and back again like it was a tennis match.

"Edward I don't know if this is going to work…"

"Trust me, please" I was close to begging and then watched her close her eyes and inhale deeply.

'_Play…Santa Baby….Edward.' _I couldn't contain myself as I heard the same voice again and it was definitely Bella.

I started playing _Santa Baby _and watched Bella's eyes grow big at the realisation that I actually heard her.

"You heard me." It wasn't a question, she simply stated the fact so that everyone knew.

"Yeah, and it's not the first time. Remember your girly day with Alice? I heard snippets of your thoughts then too but I didn't know who they belonged to because the voice sounds different - grown up - and not like the way your voice sounds now. See I told you guys I wasn't going crazy" I smirked at my brothers and Alice as they continued to stare at me.

Others looked on in confusion and Bella just carried on looking at me, I couldn't quite figure out her emotions so I wasn't sure whether she was happy about this or not.

"I remember, I wanted you to play my song, I wished that you could." She looked lost in thought whist everyone else fired silent questions at me.

"I probably would have played your song but I was too focused on that voice and the fact that I heard you." Her eyes shot to me and a beautiful smile spread across her face and that single smile told me she is ok with this.

She has to know she has full control on whether I can hear her or not. She has to want it on order for it to work.

That has to be the best early Christmas present I have ever gotten.

**AN- I hope you enjoy these chapters. I just wanted to let you all wonderful people know that the next update is going to have a massive time jump. I've been dragging my feet a little with Bella growing up and I just want to speed it up a little. I know some of you are eager for Edward and Bella to start their relationship and some of you probably want to see her grow a little slower…..but that would take forever hehe. I hope you guys won't be too mad but I'm ready to pick up the pace a little and I hope you stick around to read it. **

**I hope you had a lovely Christmas and I hope that the New Year will be good to ya **

**xo**


	34. Chapter 33

**AN- You guys are amazing! I loved all your reviews and I don't dream of stopping this story, I've still got a lot to write ;) I really hope you're not mad about the time jump but I ****just wanted to speed it up a little so that Edward and Bella could just….be **** there will be a lot going on in the next few chapters so stick around please **

**Chapter 33**

To say the years have flown by would be an understatement. It feels like it was only yesterday that we celebrated Bella's first birthday. Now, we're hours away from her fifth birthday and I was eager for Bella to wake up.

She wanted to have a tradition of only going to sleep on the night before her birthday. She was currently asleep in her room which now looked like a teenaged girl's room. The pink and princesses didn't last long.

She has a wall full of books now and a huge poster bed. It has become her escape room. After her third birthday the teenage hormones hit her pretty bad, and so did her mood swings. There were days when we were stepping on eggshells around her but thankfully it wouldn't last the whole day. By the time night came around she was like a normal person again.

Her childlike looks were gone by the time her second birthday came around. Now she looks absolutely stunning. More than once did I want to gouge the eyes of hormonal boys whenever she's out in town with us.

Bella had always told me to just ignore them but I think she forgets I could read their filthy minds and the disturbing images they would come up with just by looking at Bella.

She's now taller than Alice but shorter than Rose and has a slender body shape. Her strength is the same as ours now and even her speed has increased which was very impressive to watch, for me especially.

Over the years we had even grown closer than before. Yeah she still went to the girls for girly advice I imagine, but she always came to me when she had things on her mind. Our meadow was still our sacred place and I would always find her there after one of her tantrums had taken a toll on her, or even when just being around the family was too much to take in.

'_She has to know about Charlie.' _Alice was looking out the window when her thought hit me. Rain was gently pouring down from the dark sky and casting a gentle feel in the house.

We had tried every way possible to tell Bella about Charlie but whenever one of us would come up with something it always ended badly. I guess this time was different. Throughout these last four years, she has never questioned where she's from or how she got to be with our family. Yeah she had questions of why she was different but it never went any further than that.

Her heartbeat sped up which meant she was about to wake up. It was still dark outside but we weren't surprised she was going to last the whole night sleeping.

What did surprise us was the scream that came from her room. It didn't take us a second to enter her room and when we did I nearly choked on my own venom.

There she stood, in front of her mirror staring at her chest.

I was staring too; I couldn't help it because she had seemed to grow overnight too. She now has a perfect pair of…

"Boys get out!" Bella shouted and the four of us scrambled out of her room with our eyes still wide open.

My brothers and Carlisle recovered pretty quickly, I however, was still in shock.

She looks absolutely stunning, not that she didn't before. But she could now easily pass of as being sixteen when she's supposed to look fifteen. This also meant that the talk about school will be happening once again.

We heard giggling coming out of her room and I swear I heard my name being mentioned and then more giggling followed.

"Good luck with that bro. You do realise guys will be drooling over her now."

"Yeah thanks Emm, it's not like they're not doing that now! I'm a dead man." I groaned as my head hit the wall and I closed my eyes.

My brothers laughed at me whilst dad put his hand on my shoulder and gave it a squeeze. The door to Bella's bedroom opened and Alice stuck her head out.

"Boys go downstairs and put the presents on the dining room table, we'll be down in sixty seconds." She closed the door and there was more giggling.

I groaned again and made my way downstairs. I couldn't get the image of Bella out of my mind and she must know the affect she has on me.

I officially vowed to myself to never let her go out by herself again. The need to tell the world she was meant for me keeps growing inside me and I was so ready to scream it to the whole world just so everyone would know.

I know I can't protect her from everything and that right now, I have no right to claim her as mine because she isn't. Not yet anyway. She needs to tell me it's me she wants, the ball is in her court because I'm not going to push her into something she's not ready for.

She fully understands what mating is and she sees the mated couples in the house every day. I sometimes see her stare at each couple and smile to herself and during those times, I wished I could simply read her thoughts. She obviously has full control of when I can read her. It's still quite rare for her to open up to me, unless she doesn't want anyone else to hear what she says but me.

Those rare moments I cherish the most because her mind just goes free, roaming everything she's experienced or wants to experience. It's beautiful to watch.

My sisters and Esme came down the stairs and walked over to their other halves. I stood at the bottom of the stairs waiting for Bella to come down. When I saw her descend down those stairs it took my unnecessary breath away.

She looked beautiful in a floor length skirt and one of them cropped top things that don't cover your whole torso. Her hair was down and she had the most beautiful smile on her face as she came closer to me.

She took my outstretched hand and I kissed the back of hers.

"You look breathtakingly beautiful." I couldn't help but tell her what I thought.

"Thank you Edward." She looked at me through her lashes and that for me confirmed that I am in fact, a dead man.


	35. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34**

"HAPPY FITH BIRTHDAY BELLA!" the whole family cheered as we walked into the dining room.

"Ow you guys didn't have to do all of this. Ali I told you I didn't want a big deal made out of this! You could have at least waited till my seventh birthday." Although she was scolding Alice for all the decorations, she did so with a smile on her face which meant she wasn't that angry about it.

"Oh stop your whining and open your presents! Open mine first because I've been dying to get you this." As soon as I saw Alice's mind I groaned again because when Bella opened the bag, there was a ton of lingerie in there and if Bella could, she would be blushing right now.

"Did you know this-" Bella gestured to her body "would happen?" she raised her eyebrow at Alice who looked sheepish but proud at the same time.

"Well not quite, but something told me you would need it." She winked at Bella and my brothers groaned along with me.

"Edward I don't know why you're making such a fuss about it, it's for yo-"

"ALICE!" more than one voice shouted and it looked like Bella wanted the ground to open and swallow her, and she wasn't the only one.

"Thank you Alice, I love it." Bella quickly moved on to other gifts and thanked mum and dad for more books and the goodies she got for Moo.

When it came to Rose and Emmett's gift, Bella was doing a happy dance because in that small little box were keys to her chosen new car that Rose re-wrapped.

"I thought I had to wait for my seventh birthday to get it?" her eyes were bright with excitement.

"Yeah well we thought you can easily pass off as being sixteen so why wait." Emmett beamed at her and she rushed over to hug him and he caught her in his arms and whispered how much he loves her and how beautiful she is. When she hugged Rosalie, they shared a look and Rose nodded at something and then Bella squeezed her tighter telling Rose how much she loved her.

It was quite beautiful to watch the connection she has with everyone.

She received her adjusted driving licence from Jasper and tickets to the Ed Sheeran concert she's been dying to go to. Their embrace lasted the longest and their sibling bond was something they both cherished.

I felt a slight pang of jealousy but I quickly extinguished it because it was stupid of me to feel jealous of their friendship. He was our brother and she loved him like one.

I felt nervous about my present because I've gotten her charms to add on to the bracelet Esme and Carlisle had gotten Bella for her first birthday. She never took the bracelet off and she practically has everything she could ever want of need so this was my best option.

She took the present I wrapped and opened it slowly. When she looked inside she gasped and then turned to me.

"Will you help me put it on?" she asked me whilst holding her wrist out.

I took the book, cat paw print, music note and a diamond heart out of the box and attached it on her bracelet.

"Thank you Edward, I absolutely love it." She hugged me tightly as I wrapped my arms around her.

I heard Alice take a picture of us but neither one of us took any notice of it as we stared into each other.

It felt like my heart was soaring as she looked up at me and that spark was alive between us.

'_Do you feel that? The spark?' _she asked me and all I could do was nod she then stood on her tiptoes and kissed my cheek.

It's something she's been doing for years now and everyone thought it was really cute but I knew there was a deeper meaning behind those kisses on the cheek. There is always a deeper meaning behind Bella's actions.

The conversation about Bella's new car soon picked up and we all went outside to see her try it out. She already knew how to drive and the first time she tried, it nearly gave poor Esme a heart attack. We obviously didn't let her drive into town in case she got stopped by the police.

She climbed into the classic metal gun grey Camaro her and Rose picked out and she looked amazing in it. Her love for all things classic drove me crazy and my imagination run wild.

"Can I take it out for a spin?" she looked hopefully at mum and dad who both shared a look and then glanced at me and back at Bella.

"Only if you take Edward with you." Bella rolled her eyes at their protectiveness and then motioned for me to get in. As soon as the passenger door closed we were peeling out of the front drive and down the road. I didn't bother telling her to slow down even though I could hear our parents telling us to. She needed to feel the full power of the car and she was doing just that.

"This is amazing! I love being a vampire!" her happiness spread through me and I couldn't help but smile at her easy acceptance of this life.

She did a quick U-turn and we were driving back to the house. When she parked the car in our now extended garage, I knew the family had moved to the living room and were all sitting with Charlie's letter on the coffee table alongside her blanky.

"What's going on?" Bella asked me when we walked inside.

"Sit down sweetheart, there's something you need to know about where you're from." Carlisle spoke softly and Bella walked over to the sofa that was in front of the coffee table with the letter. I sat down next to her and she looked at me questioningly.

I handed her the letter and her hands were actually shaking.

"Read the letter and we will answer any question you might have." Esme told her and her motherly instinct kicked in at full force because all she wanted to do was burn the letter and wrap Bella in a protective bubble so that she wouldn't have to know.

She opened the letter and her hand shot to her mouth. She inhaled the scent the letter carried and then looked at her blanky, the connection was instant. She read the letter slowly and we all heard her heartbeat pick up.

She suddenly turned to me

"How could you?"

"How could I what?"

"How could you have known and not tell me?"

"We tried to tell you years ago, but every scenario that we came through ended up badly. We simply had to wait sweetie." Alice knelt in front of Bella who stared at her.

"YOU LET THEM LIVE?!"

I was instantly hit with the image of the wolves and then Bella was gone.


	36. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35**

Finding Bella wasn't hard, what was hard was to watch her shatter in front of me. She looked so fragile and helpless and to add in the fact that she couldn't exactly avenge Charlie's death was tearing her apart.

Little glimpses of his letter ran through her mind but I couldn't catch all of it. Her emotions were out of control and she looked like she wanted to tear the meadow apart. She could do it too and that scared me.

"Bella"

"No! Don't you dare tell me that keeping this from me was the best option! I thought we had something, how could you not tell me? How could you let them live like nothing's happened?!" her eyes were pitch black but I couldn't tell whether that was from hunger or anger.

Her body was vibrating and the next thing I knew, a tree in the far left of the clearing fell with a thundering crack.

"Bella please calm down and let me explain. And stop destroying our meadow!" I couldn't help but raise my voice too. All I wanted was for her to hear me out.

"And why should I even listen to you?" her voice was dripping with hate and it broke me to hear it.

"Because I was there! I found you, Alice and I found you and that was what Charlie wanted! He wanted you to have a better life, to be a part of this family, to be a part of me. Yes the wolves were chasing the both of you but after Charlie checked that you will be safe, he went to them! He welcomed his death because he wanted to be with your mother! It's part of having a mate, you can't live without the other and that was his perfect way of being back with her."

What I saw on Bella's face confused me slightly because it looked like there were tears running down her cheeks. She might be half human but we found out long ago that she can't produce tears.

"Are those tears beautiful?" my voice became soft and she turned away from me when I spoke.

"I just wanted to know what it feels like, and the stinging of unshed tears is really uncomfortable." Along with her wanting to sleep sometimes, that was the most human thing she had ever thought of doing.

"Please look at me." I moved to her other side and placed my finger under her chin to lift her face up. She fought at first but then her shoulders sagged and she gave in.

With tears running down her face and even with the pain and anger in her eyes, she was still the most beautiful creature to ever walk this earth.

With my thumbs, I wiped the tears away and more fell as she closed her eyes. But nonetheless, she leaned her face into my hands and inhaled my wrist. It was a bold move but I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it. She needed our connection as much as I did.

"Please don't cry." I whispered but she obviously heard me clearly.

"He didn't want me, he didn't want to try and live for me. He just gave up, what if his visions were wrong? What if the wolves would have tracked his scent back to me and finished me off then? He didn't care about me!" pure anger was back in her eyes and she backed away from me.

"If he didn't care about you do you think he would have let you live as soon as you were born? Don't you think he would have just destroyed you then? Of course he fucking cared about you! He did the best he could to keep you safe! You're here with me, with us because of him so don't you dare say he didn't care. He loved you with all his heart but being without your mother would have destroyed him way before you hit your full age. You would have lost him either way, you would have been alone, constantly looking over your shoulder due to the wolves or other vampires. This is the life he wanted for you."

I tried to move closer to her but she kept taking a step back every time I took a step forward. It carried on that way until her back pressed against a tree.

"You have everything you could ever dream of having and more. You have a family who love you and would do anything in the world for you. You have brothers and sisters and a mom and dad, you have me."

"And what are you to me Edward?" her voice was so quiet that I was surprised at how difficult it was for me to hear even when she was inches away from me.

"Whatever you want me to be beautiful."

"What am I to you Edward?"

"You are my life now." What I wanted to do right this second was to kiss her. Age no longer meant anything they were just years, in front of me was a beautiful young woman and I needed to kiss her.

What stopped me was how broken she looked, emotions would have played too big of a part in this kiss and I'm not talking about the right emotions. She was angry and upset and most likely confused now and kissing her wouldn't be right.

We have all the time in the world to be together, I'm not about to destroy something before it begins.

"Please hold me, I can't stand the distance between us." My arms were wrapped around her before she even finished the sentence.

We fit like a puzzle. I felt the spark between us as soon as we touched and I heard her inhale and her heart beat pick up too.

She was the only thing that mattered in my life and I would do anything to keep her safe and happy.

No more lying and no more secrets.


	37. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36**

Once we got home, it felt like everyone was treading on eggshells around Bella, including Alice who would have seen that everything was ok.

'_I'm blocking everyone out, Alice can't see my future and Jasper can't manipulate my emotions. I need a break from that.'_ Her mind was closed to me as quick as it had opened. I gave her a slight nod and then looked to Alice and Jasper and just shook my head at them to just drop it.

Nobody quite knew what to say to her. Carlisle wrapped his arm around Esme's shoulders and just stood there watching her, waiting for her to just do something. Rose tried to act like nothing had happened but only received one worded answers from Bella. Emmett on the other hand just left everyone to it and went to play a game. It was the only thing that caused Bella to crack a tiny smile and before going upstairs to her room, she walked up to her giant brother and kissed him on the cheek and Emmett just ruffled her hair which she surprisingly let him.

'_Should we go after her?'_ Esme asked me.

"No, she'll be ok."

"We should have all ran after her, not just you Edward." Rose glared at me like I was the cause of all this.

"Back off Rosalie." Came Bella's voice from upstairs. I'm sure it was supposed to sound menacing but it came out weak which only proved the fact of how drained she felt from all of this.

It is her birthday and it doesn't look like she is any mood to celebrate. This wasn't how the day was supposed to go and there's also nothing we can do about it. She needs space and the family and I will just have to accept that.

Privacy isn't something that works well in a house full of vampires and I knew that it frustrated Bella a lot.

I tried to drown out the worried thoughts of my family and focused on just listening to what Bella was doing.

I heard her bare feet pad around in her bedroom as she was putting her gifts away. Moo was following her around and exploring her room like he hadn't lived there his whole life. Even he was fussing over her but she let him.

Her door opened and I heard her go into my room.

That got my full attention instantly.

She opened my wardrobe and I could hear the hangers scraping along as she was looking for something. She must have found it because I heard her padding out of my room with Moo following behind her and then I heard the closing of her door.

I couldn't contain myself any longer so I went upstairs to my room, dying to know what she took.

Her scent was so strong, much stronger than what it's ever been, it's like she is stood right next to me. I mean yeah she was only here like a minute ago but even then scents don't linger on so strong for so long. I momentarily closed my eyes as her scent enveloped me and it felt like I was in a trance.

I had to shake my head a little to clear it and then I remembered why I was coming in here in the first place.

I opened my wardrobe and instantly noticed that one of my band t-shirts was gone, I couldn't help but smile at the thought of knowing she was in here looking for something of mine to wear.

It was another bold move on her part; it's not like she hasn't done it before its just that now, I feel like there's a different reason behind why she chose to take it.

When I told her she is my life and when she asked me what I am to her, she hasn't exactly given me an answer to any of that and it left me on edge a little, not quite knowing what she feels towards me but knowing that there's something there isn't reason enough.

I was itching to just go into her room but with the house full of vampires it would be difficult to have this conversation with her.

I heard her fire up her laptop and that gave me a brilliant idea.

I casually walked downstairs and grabbed my laptop off the dining room table and then went back up to my room and tried to make it look as casual as possible so not to raise suspicion. I couldn't tell you whether Alice knew as she didn't indicate anything but right now, I was set on talking to Bella without everyone hearing.

I turned my laptop on and logged onto Skype. I noticed Bella was online too so I clicked on video call just so I could see her.

When her beautiful face appeared on my screen I couldn't help but smile back at her. She was in my Rolling Stones t-shirt and she looked amazing.

She understood instantly what I was doing because she began typing a message.

: **H****mmm why have I never thought of this?**

:_ Y__ou're not as smart as me ;)_

:** H****a ha, what did you want to talk about Edward?**

: _W__hat am I to you Bella? Do you just see me as your brother? Your best friend maybe…_

I don't know what I was expecting but I watched her face closely as she thought it over. I saw the top of Moo's head as he sat in her lap and she was stroking him but she still wasn't typing.

She looked up to her webcam and straight into my eyes, it was like she was searching for something or even trying to tell me something.

: **H****ow can you not know Edward?**

: _Y__ou just never told me_

: **H****ere I was, thinking I was being too blunt and obvious about the way I felt…**

: _I'm not a mind reader Bella_

: **Y****eah you kind of are Edward**

: _H__a ha ok fair point, but I can't always read your mind Bella, you know that._

Her smile was beautiful and I couldn't help but smile back. I lived for those smiles and then she winked at me and started typing again.

: **I'm worried that if I tell you you'll want me to reconsider as I haven't really lived yet and I've only interacted with our family…**

: _J__ust spit it out, it's me you're talking to_

: **You're…everything to me Edward. I probably don't even know the full extent of my feelings because I obviously have never felt like this before. I have nothing to compare it and it scares me. What I've read in books doesn't come near to describing how I feel about you. When I was little/younger you were the best brother figure a little girl could ask for. You let me just be me and live my life the best way I can. You then became my best friend, I never expected to do girly stuff with you but even then you just let me get on with it, you let me do my thing whilst you did yours and it worked, it always worked. Now, now you are all I think about, every decision I make I consider how you would feel about it or how it might affect you, affect us. I need you in my life to function, to feel normal because being with you is the best feeling in the world.**

She wouldn't look up at me and I really wanted her to.

: _P__lease look up_

I saw her read my message and then I watched her take a deep breath and look up. I'm sure she didn't expect to see the goofy smile on my face because I simply don't do…goofy. I couldn't help it, her answer was just perfect and all I wanted to do now was hold her.

: _I would never want you to reconsider what you feel, I'm too selfish for that when it comes to you. Yeah you've only interacted with us and the Denali's but I'm not worried about you getting to know other people because I'll always be there by your side if you wanted me to. I want to experience school with you because it will be the first time I think I will actually enjoy it._

: **D****o you think they will have a problem with this, us?**

: _I__f you're talking about the vampires downstairs then no. They would be happy to see us happy =]_

: **I only have one thing to ask of you…**

: _S__ure, go ahead_

: **C****an we take this…slow?**

I was sure she could see the shock on my face because I noticed her biting on her bottom lip with worry.

: _I promise you now beautiful; I would never, ever rush you into doing anything. Neither one of us is ready for that and to be fair, there's no rush. Whatever happens, happens_

: **Thank you Edward**

She blew me a kiss and then the screen turned blank.


	38. Chapter 37

**Chapter 37**

Whilst Esme and Carlisle were out hunting, Bella gathered all of us in the living room for a family meeting. It's Esme and Carlisle's anniversary in two days and Bella ran an idea through me as a gift for our parents. I think it's the best present we have given them in a century.

I sat down in the love seat whilst the rest of our siblings sat on the sofa and Bella took centre stage. She looked slightly nervous, it could have something to do with the death glare Rosalie was giving her and the curiosity on Alice's face, which you don't see often because Alice simply knew everything.

"So I've been thinking that the best anniversary present we can give mom and dad would be a week free of teenage kids. How do you feel about going camping? Just the six of us." She looked around the room whilst everyone else just stared at her.

"But Bella, there's eight of us?" Emmett looked all sorts of confused and Rosalie even slapped the back of his head.

"Emm, mom and dad won't be going with us, that don't exactly give them a break away from us if they did." Bella tried really hard not to laugh at her big brother but the rest of us didn't bother holding it in as we burst out laughing whilst understanding morphed onto Emmett's face.

"The bear that attacked you must have done some serious damage Emmett." Jasper even pretended to wipe a tear from the laughter and Emmett just looked on with a smug smile on his face and I was hit with images of the bear that attacked Emmett becoming Emmett's first meal as a vampire.

"Anywayyy, as I was saying, how great would it be to just disappear for a little while, Emm mom won't be there to make sure you're not cursing. You boys could wrestle as much as you like. The hunt would be more exciting if we go further up north. And most importantly, we wouldn't have to listen to mom and dad have sex and try to be discreet about it. I need psychological help after walking in on you and Rose Emmett, I was only a few months old too and I still remember it! You scarred me for life big brother." She shuddered whilst I grimaced along with the image both Rose and Emmett thought of, I instantly blocked them out.

"Do you seriously need to be thinking about it now?!" in an instant, I couldn't hear a single thing apart from Bella's heartbeat and I knew she was shielding me from everyone.

I looked at her and she looked back at me through her lashes and then turned back to the family.

It had been a fortnight since our conversation on Skype. The family definitely knew something was going on but no one dared to ask. It wasn't like we were flashing our relationship around to everyone, I respected Bella's wishes, but we have been spending a lot of time in each other's rooms and Bella enjoyed climbing into bed under the covers and just burying us in our personal bubble where we didn't need words to communicate. We've laid there in complete silence most of the time, just enjoying being together and not getting interrupted by anyone.

I was sure Esme knew something as well as Rose and Alice. Rosalie was the only one who kept a watchful eye on both Bella and I and I knew she was just itching to bring it up whilst everyone was here. She's the only one who thinks Bella needs to experience more in life, she wanted Bella to start school first before thinking about finding a mate. Deep down Rose knows Bella and I are meant to be together, she's simply refusing to accept it.

Alice would sometimes just stare at the two of us and a series of vision would hit me but they would flash through so fast that even I found it hard to keep up. She even blocked me out sometimes and would wink at me whenever I looked at her questioningly.

Esme tried to be discreet about it and even took Bella hunting one day so they could have the sex talk. Bella came home stunned into silence and it took her a few hours before she spoke a word to anyone. She had reassured Esme that she already knew everything she needed to know about sex but Esme insisted. I would have laughed but Carlisle did the same thing to me the same day but in his office. He already gave me the sex talk, years and years ago but he told me that Esme asked him to do it again. It didn't faze me anymore, so I just sat through it and thought about Bella.

"Do we have four tents?" Jasper asked.

"Didn't Emmet break our fourth one?" he wondered out loud.

"Why would we need four tents?" Bella asked with a confused look on her face.

Jasper slowly turned to look at Bella as if she just insulted him. I sat up straighter unintentionally, like I was just about to tell the girl's father what my intentions with his daughter were.

"One for Ali and me, one for Rose and Emmett, one for Edward and one for you Bella. That's four." He raised a warning eyebrow at her and she crossed her arms in front of her which pushed her chest up and my focus was shifted to her breast. Never before have I felt like a teenager than I did this moment.

"Why would Edward and I need separate tents Jasper? We've slept in the same bed for years, what difference does it make now?" Bella was never one to throw tantrums, I mean yeah she went through a phase but that didn't last long. What Bella did have was a hot temper which made her sexier in my eyes. She was stubborn and never backed down and I simply admired that in her.

"Yeah but Edward has hormones he's kept caged in for years and you've grown in certain areas over night and Ed has set his hormones free and don't think I don't know what you're feeling either missy. You're too young." Jazz sat back as if to rest his case and I saw anger flash through Bella and from the corner of my eye I watched Alice shake her head a little.

"I'm perfectly capable of handling my hormones Jasper." I finally spoke up and everyone turned to look at me.

"You haven't taken your eyes off her chest for the past five minutes Edward." Jasper retorted and Emmett snickered but soon glared at me for looking at his little sister like that.

"Let's get a few things straight, what Edward and I do is absolutely none of your business and if we choose to share a tent then we god damn will. I can't help what I feel Jasper, you know that better than anyone and neither can Edward. I'm sick and tired of hearing this I'm too young crap, you can't baby me forever and you're not my dad Jasper! He's dead!" her shoulders rose and fell with every angry breath she took.

Jasper and I stood at the same time, I stood in front of Bella whilst he tried to reach for her.

He looked from Bella to me and then back again.

It didn't take him long to figure it out, I was sure that my actions just confirmed everything for everyone else.

"She's your mate?"


	39. Chapter 38

**Chapter 38**

"And he's mine now back off Jasper. This isn't supposed to be about Edward and I, we're supposed to be discussing about doing something nice for our parents. Sit down, both of you." Jasper continued to stare at me but his mind was silent to me which reminded me that Bella still held a shield around me.

Jasper sat back down next to Alice and this time, she slapped him on the back of his head.

I turned to face Bella and took her face in my hands.

"You ok beautiful?" I wasn't talking about her physical state, just her mental one. There was no need for her to be so protective about our situation. The family will simply have to accept is one way or another.

Bella placed her hands over mine and then turned her face and kissed the inside of my right palm and slowly nodded.

"Now, where was I-"

"So we're just going to ignore the fact that the two of you mated?" Rosalie suddenly piped up.

"If by mated you mean that Edward is my mate and I am his then no, you already knew it. If you mean mated as in had sex to complete the bond then yes, we are ignoring that because now is not the time or the place to talk about it. Frankly, it's up to me whether I want to discuss that part of our relationship with anyone. Have you all forgotten the era Edward is from? Did you all forget about his morals and do you all seriously believe that he would rush me into doing something like that whilst I haven't even hit full maturity? What is your problem Rosalie? Were you trying to live vicariously through me? I'm not some feeble human who's going to grow old and have kids and grandkids and then die. You said you will be happy for me whatever I choose to do, so what changed?"

"Do you think any of us expected you to grow up so fast? Yeah we heard legends and we talked to other vampires about hybrids but nothing prepared us for the real thing. I thought I'll have more time with little young Bella who climbed on top of the kitchen counter to reach for her sippy cup, who loved reading in her rocking chair before bed time, who needed help with everything, who loved Easter egg hunts with her big brother Emmett because he would lift the boulders up for you just so you could find them god damned eggs! I expected all of that and so much more but look at you! Look how stunning you look, how mature you are, how you're not afraid to stand up for whatever you feel is right. There couldn't be a better mate for you than Edward. From the day he and Alice brought you home you two had a connection, I didn't want to admit it but it's true. I just don't want either of you to get hurt when you decide you need more."

"You can't bubble wrap me and tighten it whenever something might happen, how am I supposed to learn from mistakes if you won't let me make any? And you're wrong about one thing, I will never _need more__,_Edward is everything to me just like Emmett is to you. I may not have anything to compare my feeling to but I know what love is, what a bond between two people feels like because I feel it right here." Bella's hand shot to her beating heart and the whole family listened to it beat. I stood up for the second time and wrapped my arms around her and she leaned back against my chest.

"Esme and Carlisle are going to love our present." Alice spoke up for the first time tonight.

"So that means everyone is going right?" Bella asked and our siblings nodded.

"Good, now if you'll excuse me I need to do something that you puny vampires find disgusting."

"Where you going Boo?" Emmett cocked his head at Bella and we all look at her for an answer.

"I want a smoothie." She simply shrugged and put on her leather jacket and took her car keys as she went into the garage.

We all shuddered in disgust and only then did I realise she was going by herself.

"Bella wait up." I caught her just before she climbed into her car.

"Get in the car Edward, did you seriously think I'd go alone?" I felt silly for even thinking that she would actually go alone. Looking the way she did in her tight navy jeans and peachy blouse topped with her leather jacket and heels she looked irresistible.

"At least let me drive angel, we are going on a date aren't we?" I winked at her and then grabbed her hand and walked her over to the passenger's side and opened the door for her. She giggled and climbed in, I shut her door and then at vampire speed I got in behind the wheel and we were speeding off leaving the house behind us.

"How did it go from talking about mom and dad's anniversary and making fun out of Emmett to talking about our sex life with our siblings and them biting my head off? I mean what's gotten into Jasper all of a sudden?" Bella rambled on in a cute way as she sucked on the straw of her smoothie. I could smell every individual fruit that has been put into that thick drink and it still didn't appeal to me.

Somewhere at the back of my mind I remember strawberry picking with my mother and how much I used to love them and the jam she used to make. I automatically smiled at the memory which made Bella stop talking?

"What are you thinking about?"

"My mother and I used to pick strawberries together so she could make jam with them. Sorry, I could smell every fruit that's in your smoothie and there are strawberries in this one and the memory just hit me out of nowhere." I looked up at Bella and she had the most beautiful smile on her face. It's the way she always smiles at me when she doesn't think I'm looking, she smiles like that when I play her lullaby too.

"I wish I could meet her just so I could hear her tell embarrassing stories about you when you were little. I'm sure you were a little heart breaker back then too."

"There was a Magdalena Maidstone who lived on my street and she used to tell all the other girls that we were married and she used to make me do everything for her because that was what husbands were supposed to do. The next day she was bossing around Billy Clover saying that they were married now." I shook my head at the memory, I have no idea how I retrieved it because I was so young when this happened and I've never remembered anything like it before.

When I looked at Bella again her smile was even bigger.

"Did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Helped me remember that memory."

"I certainly didn't wish for it if that's what you're asking."

"No you didn't, but I did. I wanted to remember something about my childhood so I could tell you." I sat there in astonishment as Bella carried on drinking her smoothie whilst she looked around the diner. There were couples kissing scattered all over the place and I watched Bella look at all of them, when she turned back to me I took both of her hands and kissed the inside of her wrists.

A quiet moan escaped her lips before she could stop it and we were surrounded in our blissful bubble once again.


	40. Chapter 39

**Chapter 39**

After Bella was done with her smoothie, I wasn't ready to share her with the whole family just yet. And personally, I was dying to kiss the girl. I knew she could feel that pull she had towards me and I couldn't quite understand why we were avoiding it. Everything else is flowing smoothly between us and there was that nagging feeling again about our first kiss.

"Where are we going?" she asked me as I avoided the turn in into our road towards the house.

"Our meadow, I'm not ready to share you yet." I winked at her as she took my hand and beamed at me.

"My my, how very shellfish of you Edward." She teased.

"What can I say, I'm a very selfish creature Isabella." I heard her quick inhale at the mention of her full name. I wasn't quite sure what caused that reaction and especially the way she bit on her bottom lips whilst looking at me through her lashes.

Bella Cullen is definitely a very dangerous creature.

-0-

"Do you think they'll enjoy their surprise?" this was the first time she spoke up since we got to the meadow, we have been laying there in comfortable silence for quite a while now, but the sound of her voice was just as soothing.

"Of course they will. Everyone enjoys the opportunity of privacy in our house, I should know that better than anyone. They might not show it but it's something both Esme and Carlisle have thought about, but they would have gone away and left us all at the house instead. Us giving them the privacy in their own home will be perfect." I continued running my fingers up and down her arm as I spoke. Her head rested on my chest like she was listening to my heart beat and there was a part of me that wished she could.

There was a part of me that wished I was just like her or maybe even human. Being in this family is a risk to her; we are well known in the vampire world as the coven that feed on animals and our powers such as mind reading and seeing the future is something Aro has always wanted.

The fact that someone would find out about her and tell the Volturi is driving me insane with worry.

I also couldn't dwell on the what ifs any longer. Having he most precious girl in my arms couldn't possibly dampen my mood.

Our relationship was no longer a secret, not that it ever was but we no longer have to get away just so I could hold her. But if I don't kiss this girl soon I think I'm going to combust. We've been going at her pace since admitting our feelings and we still haven't shared our first kiss. I want it to be special because I want to be her first and last in everything. I don't want anyone else but her.

She sighed and nuzzled further into my chest, I also noticed the way she inhaled my scent, nothing got passed me when it came to Bella.

In a flash, I turned us over and I was now leaning above her. I could see the surprise in her eyes and I also heard her heart beat pick up. My eyes travelled down her face to her lips, I instinctively lick my lips and then looked up at her eyes which were staring at my lips. I didn't miss the fact that her tongue peaked out and wet her bottom lip either.

Our gazes locked in place, I leaned my head down towards her slowly, giving her time to pull away if she wasn't ready for this. If I had a heart I'm sure it would be beating as fast as hers is right now. She closed her eyes and met me halfway.

My hand snaked behind her head so I could hold her there. The moment we kissed that spark between us deepened. It was like it's the last piece locking us together, binding us to one another.

Her hand went straight to my hair as we deepened the kiss. It was everything I had imagined it to be and more, so much more. I envied the softness of her lips on my cheek every time she would kiss it and now having her lips on mine, I just couldn't describe it.

I knew that if we carried on I would definitely push her too far, I was also looking out for my own sanity as well as hers. With every little moan she let out as we kissed I knew that I would be a dead man for the rest of my life.

I finally found my balls and slowed down the kiss, I was also glad to see she didn't complain either. When I pulled away all I wanted to do was kiss her again. Her lips were deliciously swollen and her eyes were sparkling as she gazed up at me.

"Did you feel that?" she whispered

"I did." I kissed her forehead and found her still gazing up at me when I pulled back, a crease formed between her eyebrows and before I could say anything, the most beautiful sound met my ears.

'_You're mine'_

Her thoughts were like gentle whispers yet the meaning was loud and clear.

"As you are mine."

-0-

"You guys really don't have to do this." Carlisle was still trying to convince us that we didn't need to give them space and that they loved having all of us at home. But his thoughts betrayed him because as soon as Bella presented them with the idea they were both ecstatic to have some alone time.

Once all the planning began, Rose and Ali started questioning Bella on why they couldn't just go out of town and stay in a fancy hotel instead. Bella calmly explained to them that camping would be more fun and we wouldn't need to put up a charade and just be vampires.

It all sounded good for us guys but the girls were still sceptical. Bella on the other hand was too excited about going camping, we've never been camping with her before so she was looking forward to the whole experience. Her excitement was rubbing off on me too. This is just one of the many experiences with her I'm happy to tag along to and witness through her eyes.

"For the last time Alice no we are not going to stay in a cabin instead! I've never been camping before and this is just one of the stories I can share when I'm at school and people ask me what I've been up to. Stop being such a brat shorty." Alice was scowling at Bella but Bella chose to ignore it and carried on packing her stuff.

"Angel bring you bag down when you're done, yours is the last one to go in." Bella insisted we take her car but I made sure she let me drive it if that was the case. She agreed willingly and it made things much easier.

"Coming!" she was beside me instantly and kissed my cheek as she walked over to our parents.

"I really hope you two enjoy some alone time without us." The three of them were in their own little circle with Carlisle's arms wrapped around both Bella and Esme.

"I'm going to miss you baby girl." It sounded like Esme was close to tears and the rest of us gathered around in the living room watching their embrace. Pure love was radiating around the house and it had nothing to do with Jasper.

"I'm going to miss you too mom, and you pops." She kissed both of them on the cheek and they both kissed her forehead before turning to the rest of us.

"You take care of our little girl you hear me!" Esme was pointing a finger at all of us and Bella just rolled her eyes but they quickly shifted in my direction and she winked at me. I would have laughed if it wasn't for Esme smirking whilst looking at me and then back at Bella.

I rubbed the back of my neck out of habit and the rest of them chuckled at me.

"Come on we gotta hit the road! Parents, don't do anything I wouldn't!" Emmett then stomped out of the house and was in his jeep in an instant.

The rest of us said goodbye properly and wished Esme and Carlisle a happy anniversary.

Once all three couples were inside their cars we took off with Emmett leading the way. He apparently knows the perfect location for our camping trip. The fact that Emmett was excited about this as much as Bella was made Rosalie soften up a little at the idea of getting away from the house, even if it is camping with the rest of us.


	41. Chapter 40

**Chapter 40**

Bella quietly hummed along to the song playing on the radio as we carried on following Emmett. We've been on the road for a good 2 hours and I was enjoying every minute of it.

I couldn't help but stare at her, I watched her face all night as she actually decided to sleep last night, but the best part was, she slept in my arms.

I think our family knew something has changed between us, progressed if you'd like. Bella's constant happy attitude and my constant smile must have been a giveaway because I never used to smile like that before Bella.

The kissing is always the best part of my Bella time. Sometimes it's heated and I find it difficult to find my self control and sometimes it's just silly pecks all over her face just so I could hear her laugh.

"What you thinking about?" she asked me whilst grabbing my hand.

"Wouldn't you like to know." I smirked at her and watched her tilt her head in amusement.

For a millisecond, I felt something weird at the back of my mind but it was gone as soon as it happened.

"Mmhmmm, yeah I think about that too." A giggle burst out of her before I could comprehend what she just said.

"Think about what Bella?"

"Wouldn't you like to know." I couldn't help but laugh at her response.

Was she messing with me?

She's gotta be messing with me right?

Bella can't possibly know what I was thinking, she can't read minds.

"How do you deal with that?" she asked me, once again tilting her head to the side.

"Deal with what?" every part of me wished she would open her mind to me.

"Hearing people's thoughts, aren't they all disturbing or just ridiculous. How do you know the difference from someone speaking out loud to someone's thoughts if you're not looking at them or paying attention?" she now moved her whole body to face me as she sat in the car seat sideways.

My first thought was about her safety as I noticed she removed her seat belt, my second thought was about why she was so curious all of a sudden.

And then that weird feeling in my head returned.

"Nothing's going to happen to me Edward, I trust your driving skills."

What the actually hell?!

"Bella what are you doing with that brilliant talent of yours?" my own voice sounded shaky.

I don't do shaky.

"Answer the question Edward."

"I see it as my duty Bella, to listen out for peoples thoughts. I've been doing it for centuries now, it helps knowing if someone has figured us out or if someone is a threat. More than once have I accidently answered someone's thoughts when we were in school, it would only throw them off for a second before they would ignore it and wonder whether they said it out loud. Some are disturbing especially teenage boys when they see Ali and Rose and think about what they would do to them if they got them alone, some are even amusing. I can also block them out, which I do quite a lot to be honest. When I'm with you, I don't need to do that because your mind gives me the silence I sometimes seek, but don't get me wrong, I pray every day that I could be able to hear you fully. As for the difference, the sound of thoughts it's gentler from the sound of their voices, that's how I know the difference."

'_How does my mind sound like?' _I smiled as the sound of her warm mind drifted through mine.

"Gentler than your voice, almost chime like. I would recognise your thoughts from a sea of people in a room. For some reason yours is the clearest to me and I love that." I brought her hand to my lips and kissed it.

She looked at me and then smiled. I wish she had kept her mind open to me so I could know what she's thinking.

"Do you think I'll like school?" that wasn't exactly what I thought she would say but I'll humor her.

"I think you will love it, I think they will as well." I pointed to the cars in front of us, where our siblings were.

To be quite honest, I didn't know what to expect when we go to school, my overprotectiveness will sky rocket once the teenagers get a glimpse of Bella. But I also know I won't be the only one because Emmett and Jasper won't let any guy near her.

I know we can't bubble wrap her and protect her from everything and everyone but I'll sure as hell try.

'_We're here!'_ Emmett's thoughts shouted at me as we pulled into a dirt road and headed up.

"We're here apparently." As soon as I spoke, only then did I notice she was still sitting facing me.

"How am I going to keep all the girls away from you?" she smirked and shook her head as she changed position and sat facing forward now.

"I don't notice nor pay attention to other girls Bella, the only girl I care about is you. You don't have to worry about anything."

"Touché Edward."

There she goes doing that again.


End file.
